User interface for defining anomaly action rules in a network security system

ABSTRACT

The disclosed embodiments include a method performed by a computer system. The method includes causing display of one or more first graphical controls enabling a user to define a filter of an anomaly action rule, the filter defining at least one of an attribute of an anomaly or an attribute of a computer network entity. The method also includes causing display of one or more second graphical controls enabling a user to define an action to take with respect to the anomaly action rule. The method further includes generating the anomaly action rule based on interaction by a user with the one or more first and second graphical controls, wherein the anomaly action rule causes performance of the action upon detecting an anomaly that satisfies the anomaly action rule.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains materialwhich is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has noobjection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent documentor the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and TrademarkOffice patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyrightrights whatsoever.

FIELD

At least one embodiment of the present disclosure pertains to networksecurity tools, and more particularly, to intelligence generation byenabling users to customize anomaly action rules or threat rules for usein identifying security threats to a computer network.

BACKGROUND

Activity detection, both friendly and malicious, has long been apriority for computer network administrators. In known public andprivate computer networks, users employ devices such as desktopcomputers, laptop computers, tablets, smart phones, browsers, etc. tointeract with others through computers and servers that are coupled tothe network. Digital data, typically in the form of data packets, arepassed along the network by interconnected network devices.

Malicious activities can cause harm to the network's software orhardware, and its users. Malicious activities may include unauthorizedand/or unusual access or use of network resources and data. Networkadministrators seek to detect such activities, for example, by searchingfor patterns of behavior that are unusual or that otherwise vary fromthe expected use pattern of a particular entity, such as an organizationor subset thereof, individual user, IP address, node or group of nodesin the network.

Network security tools (e.g., software, hardware) may be installed onnodes (e.g., servers) of a computer network to detect unusual activity.Such security tools monitor traffic over the computer network to performmalware detection, intrusion detection, detection of atypical or unusualbehavior, and the like. An administrator may be alerted when suchactivities are detected so that the administrator can take actions tomitigate the effects of the activities. Existing security tools,however, use rigid, hard-coded logic to detect the same unusual activityin different computer networks. Yet unusual activities that pose alegitimate concern to the network of one organization may not pose anyconcern to the network of another organization. As a result, existingnetwork security tools tend to be either under-inclusive to avoidoverwhelming network administrators with false positives, orover-inclusive, which requires evaluation by a user of detectedactivities to determine whether a legitimate concern exists. Thus,existing security tools tend to be unreliable and/or ineffective.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 illustrates a networked computer environment;

FIG. 2A illustrates a portion of a table that includes exampleanomalies;

FIG. 2B illustrates the remaining portion of the table of FIG. 2A thatincludes example anomalies;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a processing hierarchy ofdetecting anomalies, identifying threat indicators, and identifyingthreats;

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating an example process for detectinganomalies;

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating an example process for customizinganomaly action rules;

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating an example process for customizingthreat rules;

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating an example process for identifyingsecurity threats to a computer network;

FIG. 8 is an illustrative view of a home screen user interface screendisplay;

FIG. 9 is an illustrative view of a “Threats Review” user interfacescreen display;

FIG. 10 is an illustrative view of an “Anomalies Table” user interfacescreen display;

FIG. 11 is an illustrative view of an “Anomaly Details” user interfacescreen display;

FIG. 12 is an illustrative view of a “Threats Table” user interfacescreen display;

FIG. 13 is an illustrative view of a “Custom Threats” user interfacescreen display;

FIG. 14 is an illustrative view of a first user interface screen displayto define an entity for a custom threat rule;

FIG. 15 is an illustrative view of a second user interface screendisplay to define filters for a custom threat rule;

FIG. 16A is an illustrative view of a third user interface screendisplay to define conditions for a custom threat rule;

FIG. 16B is another illustrative view of the third user interface screendisplay to define conditions for a custom threat rule;

FIG. 16C is another illustrative view of the third user interface screendisplay to define conditions for a custom threat rule;

FIG. 17A is an illustrative view of a user interface screen display todefine filters for a custom threat rule;

FIG. 17B is another illustrative view of the user interface screendisplay to define filters for a custom threat rule;

FIG. 17C is another illustrative view of the user interface screendisplay to define filters for a custom threat rule;

FIG. 18A is an illustrative view of a fourth user interface screendisplay to define anomaly processing for a custom threat rule;

FIG. 18B is another illustrative view of the fourth user interfacescreen display to define anomaly processing for a custom threat rule;

FIG. 18C is another illustrative view of the fourth user interfacescreen display to define anomaly processing for a custom threat rule;

FIG. 19A is an illustrative view of a fifth user interface screendisplay to define properties of security threats of a custom threatrule;

FIG. 19B is another illustrative view of the fifth user interface screendisplay to define properties of security threats of a custom threatrule;

FIG. 19C is another illustrative view of the fifth user interface screendisplay to define properties of security threats of a custom threatrule;

FIG. 20 is an illustrative view of a sixth user interface screen displayto define properties of a custom threat rule;

FIG. 21 is an illustrative view of the fourth user interface screendisplay for modifying properties of a custom threat rule;

FIG. 22 is an illustrative view of an “Anomalies Action Rules” homescreen user interface screen display;

FIG. 23 is an illustrative view of an “Anomalies Trash” user interfacescreen display;

FIG. 24A is an illustrative view of a first user interface screendisplay for creating an anomaly action rule;

FIG. 24B is another illustrative view of the first user interface screendisplay for creating an anomaly action rule;

FIG. 24C is another illustrative view of the first user interface screendisplay for creating an anomaly action rule;

FIG. 24D is another illustrative view of the first user interface screendisplay for creating an anomaly action rule;

FIG. 25A is an illustrative view of a second user interface screendisplay to define filters for an anomaly action rule;

FIG. 25B is another illustrative view of the second user interfacescreen display to define filters for an anomaly action rule;

FIG. 25C is another illustrative view of the second user interfacescreen display to define filters for an anomaly action rule;

FIG. 26 is an illustrative view of a third user interface screen displayto define properties of an anomaly action rule; and

FIG. 27 is a block diagram illustrating a high-level example of hardwarearchitecture of a computing system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The ensuing description provides exemplary embodiments only and is notintended to limit the scope, applicability, or configuration of thedisclosure. Rather, the ensuing description of the exemplary embodimentswill provide those skilled in the art with an enabling description forimplementing a preferred exemplary embodiment. Various changes can bemade in the function and arrangement of elements without departing fromthe spirit and scope as set forth in the appended claims.

In this description, references to “an embodiment,” “one embodiment,” orthe like mean that the particular feature, function, structure orcharacteristic being described is included in at least one embodiment ofthe technique introduced herein. Occurrences of such phrases in thisspecification do not necessarily all refer to the same embodiment. Onthe other hand, the embodiments referred to are also not necessarilymutually exclusive.

1.0. General Overview

Modern data centers and other computing environments can compriseanywhere from a few host computer systems to thousands of systemsconfigured to process data, service requests from remote clients, andperform numerous other computational tasks. During operation, variouscomponents within these computing environments often generatesignificant volumes of data. For example, data is generated by variouscomponents in the information technology (IT) environments, such asservers, sensors, routers, mobile devices, Internet of Things (IoT)devices, etc.

Analyzing and searching massive quantities of data presents a number ofchallenges. For example, a data center, servers, or network appliancesmay generate many different types and formats of data (e.g., systemlogs, network packet data (e.g., wire data, etc.), sensor data,application program data, error logs, stack traces, system performancedata, operating system data, virtualization data, etc.) from thousandsof different components, which can collectively be very time-consumingto analyze. In another example, mobile devices may generate largeamounts of information relating to data accesses, applicationperformance, operating system performance, network performance, etc.There can be millions of mobile devices that report these types ofinformation.

2.0. Operating Environment

FIG. 1 illustrates a networked computer system 100 in which anembodiment may be implemented. Those skilled in the art would understandthat FIG. 1 represents one example of a networked computer system andother embodiments may use different arrangements.

The networked computer system 100 comprises one or more computingdevices. These one or more computing devices comprise any combination ofhardware and software configured to implement the various logicalcomponents described herein. For example, the one or more computingdevices may include one or more memories that store instructions forimplementing the various components described herein, one or morehardware processors configured to execute the instructions stored in theone or more memories, and various data repositories in the one or morememories for storing data structures utilized and manipulated by thevarious components.

In an embodiment, one or more client devices 102 are coupled to one ormore host devices 106 and a data intake and query system 108 via one ormore networks 104. Networks 104 broadly represent one or more LANs,WANs, cellular networks (e.g., LTE, HSPA, 3G, and other cellulartechnologies), and/or networks using any of wired, wireless, terrestrialmicrowave, or satellite links, and may include the public Internet.

2.1. Host Devices

In the illustrated embodiment, the system 100 includes one or more hostdevices 106. Host devices 106 may broadly include any number ofcomputers, virtual machine instances, and/or data centers that areconfigured to host or execute one or more instances of host applications114. In general, a host device 106 may be involved, directly orindirectly, in processing requests received from client devices 102.Each host device 106 may comprise, for example, one or more of a networkdevice, a web server, an application server, a database server, etc. Acollection of host devices 106 may be configured to implement anetwork-based service. For example, a provider of a network-basedservice may configure one or more host devices 106 and host applications114 (e.g., one or more web servers, application servers, databaseservers, etc.) to collectively implement the network-based application.

In general, client devices 102 communicate with one or more hostapplications 114 to exchange information. The communication between aclient device 102 and a host application 114 may, for example, be basedon the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) or any other network protocol.Content delivered from the host application 114 to a client device 102may include, for example, HTML documents, media content, etc. Thecommunication between a client device 102 and host application 114 mayinclude sending various requests and receiving data packets. Forexample, in general, a client device 102 or application running on aclient device may initiate communication with a host application 114 bymaking a request for a specific resource (e.g., based on an HTTPrequest), and the application server may respond with the requestedcontent stored in one or more response packets.

In the illustrated embodiment, one or more of host applications 114 maygenerate various types of performance data during operation, includingevent logs, network data, sensor data, and other types ofmachine-generated data. For example, a host application 114 comprising aweb server may generate one or more web server logs in which details ofinteractions between the web server and any number of client devices 102is recorded. As another example, a host device 106 comprising a routermay generate one or more router logs that record information related tonetwork traffic managed by the router. As yet another example, a hostapplication 114 comprising a database server may generate one or morelogs that record information related to requests sent from other hostapplications 114 (e.g., web servers or application servers) for datamanaged by the database server.

2.2. Client Devices

Client devices 102 of FIG. 1 represent any computing device capable ofinteracting with one or more host devices 106 via a network 104.Examples of client devices 102 may include, without limitation, smartphones, tablet computers, handheld computers, wearable devices, laptopcomputers, desktop computers, servers, portable media players, gamingdevices, and so forth. In general, a client device 102 can provideaccess to different content, for instance, content provided by one ormore host devices 106, etc. Each client device 102 may comprise one ormore client applications 110, described in more detail in a separatesection hereinafter.

2.3. Client Device Applications

In an embodiment, each client device 102 may host or execute one or moreclient applications 110 that are capable of interacting with one or morehost devices 106 via one or more networks 104. For instance, a clientapplication 110 may be or comprise a web browser that a user may use tonavigate to one or more websites or other resources provided by one ormore host devices 106. As another example, a client application 110 maycomprise a mobile application or “app.” For example, an operator of anetwork-based service hosted by one or more host devices 106 may makeavailable one or more mobile apps that enable users of client devices102 to access various resources of the network-based service. As yetanother example, client applications 110 may include backgroundprocesses that perform various operations without direct interactionfrom a user. A client application 110 may include a “plug-in” or“extension” to another application, such as a web browser plug-in orextension.

In an embodiment, a client application 110 may include a monitoringcomponent 112. At a high level, the monitoring component 112 comprises asoftware component or other logic that facilitates generatingperformance data related to a client device's operating state, includingmonitoring network traffic sent and received from the client device andcollecting other device and/or application-specific information.Monitoring component 112 may be an integrated component of a clientapplication 110, a plug-in, an extension, or any other type of add-oncomponent. Monitoring component 112 may also be a stand-alone process.

In one embodiment, a monitoring component 112 may be created when aclient application 110 is developed, for example, by an applicationdeveloper using a software development kit (SDK). The SDK may includecustom monitoring code that can be incorporated into the codeimplementing a client application 110. When the code is converted to anexecutable application, the custom code implementing the monitoringfunctionality can become part of the application itself.

In some cases, an SDK or other code for implementing the monitoringfunctionality may be offered by a provider of a data intake and querysystem, such as a system 108. In such cases, the provider of the system108 can implement the custom code so that performance data generated bythe monitoring functionality is sent to the system 108 to facilitateanalysis of the performance data by a developer of the clientapplication or other users.

In an embodiment, the custom monitoring code may be incorporated intothe code of a client application 110 in a number of different ways, suchas the insertion of one or more lines in the client application codethat call or otherwise invoke the monitoring component 112. As such, adeveloper of a client application 110 can add one or more lines of codeinto the client application 110 to trigger the monitoring component 112at desired points during execution of the application. Code thattriggers the monitoring component may be referred to as a monitortrigger. For instance, a monitor trigger may be included at or near thebeginning of the executable code of the client application 110 such thatthe monitoring component 112 is initiated or triggered as theapplication is launched, or included at other points in the code thatcorrespond to various actions of the client application, such as sendinga network request or displaying a particular interface.

In an embodiment, the monitoring component 112 may monitor one or moreaspects of network traffic sent and/or received by a client application110. For example, the monitoring component 112 may be configured tomonitor data packets transmitted to and/or from one or more hostapplications 114. Incoming and/or outgoing data packets can be read orexamined to identify network data contained within the packets, forexample, and other aspects of data packets can be analyzed to determinea number of network performance statistics. Monitoring network trafficmay enable information to be gathered particular to the networkperformance associated with a client application 110 or set ofapplications.

In an embodiment, network performance data refers to any type of datathat indicates information about the network and/or network performance.Network performance data may include, for instance, a URL requested, aconnection type (e.g., HTTP, HTTPS, etc.), a connection start time, aconnection end time, an HTTP status code, request length, responselength, request headers, response headers, connection status (e.g.,completion, response time(s), failure, etc.), and the like. Uponobtaining network performance data indicating performance of thenetwork, the network performance data can be transmitted to a dataintake and query system 108 for analysis.

Upon developing a client application 110 that incorporates a monitoringcomponent 112, the client application 110 can be distributed to clientdevices 102. Applications generally can be distributed to client devices102 in any manner, or they can be pre-loaded. In some cases, theapplication may be distributed to a client device 102 via an applicationmarketplace or other application distribution system. For instance, anapplication marketplace or other application distribution system mightdistribute the application to a client device based on a request fromthe client device to download the application.

Examples of functionality that enables monitoring performance of aclient device are described in U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/524,748, entitled “UTILIZING PACKET HEADERS TO MONITOR NETWORKTRAFFIC IN ASSOCIATION WITH A CLIENT DEVICE”, filed on 27 Oct. 2014, andwhich is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety for allpurposes.

In an embodiment, the monitoring component 112 may also monitor andcollect performance data related to one or more aspects of theoperational state of a client application 110 and/or client device 102.For example, a monitoring component 112 may be configured to collectdevice performance information by monitoring one or more client deviceoperations, or by making calls to an operating system and/or one or moreother applications executing on a client device 102 for performanceinformation. Device performance information may include, for instance, acurrent wireless signal strength of the device, a current connectiontype and network carrier, current memory performance information, ageographic location of the device, a device orientation, and any otherinformation related to the operational state of the client device.

In an embodiment, the monitoring component 112 may also monitor andcollect other device profile information including, for example, a typeof client device, a manufacturer and model of the device, versions ofvarious software applications installed on the device, and so forth.

3.0. Network Security Overview

In today's enterprises, security threats are caused by bad actors thatare external to an enterprise or internal to the enterprise. Forexample, foreign actors routinely attempt to hack an enterprise to stealsensitive data for use in unlawful activity. Security tools such asfirewalls are relatively effective at detecting suspicious activity fromexternal sources and shutting down access when security threats aredetected. On the other hand, security threats from trusted users of anenterprise often go undetected by existing security tools. For example,an authorized user may one day decide to steal sensitive data byperiodically transferring that data to an external remote server.Because the user is trusted and the data is subtly leaked to theexternal remote server, a security tool may not detect the securitythreat.

Indeed, traditional security products often suffer from several majordrawbacks, including the inability to detect unknown threats and insiderthreats, and the inability to scale and process huge amounts of data.Whether access is obtained by using compromised accounts/systems or byleveraging existing privileges to conduct malicious activities, nowadaysattackers often do not need to employ additional malware. The patternsof these malicious activities vary dynamically, and attackers can almostalways find ways to evade traditional security technologies, such asrules-driven malware detection, malicious file signature comparison, andsandboxing. Also, as the amount of the data increases, using humananalysis to perform threat detection becomes increasingly expensive andtime prohibitive, and such human analysis does not allow the threat tobe responded to in a timely and effective manner.

The disclosed embodiments include a network security platform that canbe implemented in a computer network such as a data processing system(e.g., including a data intake and query system). The disclosed networksecurity platform can detect anomalies on a computer network andidentify security threats to the computer network. A security threat tothe network is identified from a detected pattern of one or moreanomalies based on threat rules. The threat rules may be preconfigured,configurable, or non-configurable. In other words, some threat rules maybe customizable by users of the network security platform.

For example, the disclosed embodiments include a user interface (UI)that displays a series of ordered displays (e.g., screens or views) witheasy-to-use graphical controls that enable users to customize new threatrules or modify existing threat rules used to identify security threatsto a computer network. Hence, the UI allows a user to providedefinitions to define a specific scenario as a threat. The disclosedfunctionality provides flexibility for a user to define a threat rule toidentify a particular scenario in anomalies that have already beendetected, and be able to detect a security threat based on specifiedconditions or filters. The conditions or filters can apply across a widerange of data (e.g., anomalies, users, devices, applications, domains).

As used herein, an “anomaly” may refer to a detected variation from anexpected pattern of behavior on the part of an entity. The variation mayor may not constitute a security threat to the network. An anomaly canrepresent an event of possible concern, which may be actionable orwarrant further investigation. An anomaly is an observable or detectablefact, or data representing such fact. An anomaly or a set of anomaliesmay be evaluated together and may result in a determination of asecurity threat or an indication of a security threat.

For example, an anomaly may represent entity specific behavior thatdeviates from the normal behavior for this entity as identified by amachine learning security system. As such, a threat rule operates onresults of an entity oriented, unsupervised behavioral analysis processsupported by machine learning with the goal of further cultivating andaggregating them into threats.

As used herein, a “security threat” or a “threat” are synonymous and mayrefer to an interpretation of one or more anomalies (e.g., a pattern ofone or more anomalies) and/or threat indicators. Threat indicators andthreats are escalations of events of concern. As an example of scale,hundreds of millions of packets of incoming data from various datasources may be analyzed to yield 100 anomalies, which may be furtheranalyzed to yield 10 threat indicators, which may again be furtheranalyzed to yield one or two threats. This manner of data scaling is oneof the reasons the disclosed security techniques can provide anomaly andthreat detection in a real-time manner.

The disclosed network security platform can also include anomaly actionrules. An anomaly action rule can apply a “rule action” (also referredto as an “action”) on one or more selected anomalies. The anomaly actionrules can be applied in real-time; executed as part of an anomalycreation workflow and can apply their action rules on recently createdanomalies, provided that they are selected based on a filter defined bythe anomaly action rule. Hence, the anomaly action rules are part of apre-processing stage through which all newly detected anomalies mustpass before being registered and, for example, used to define the customthreat rules. In some embodiments, the anomaly action rules can be usedin batch mode in order to process existing anomalies. For example, thedisclosed embodiments include a UI that presents a series of screenviews with easy-to-use graphical controls that enable users to customizeanomaly action rules.

The disclosed techniques are not limited in applicability to securityapplications, security information and event management (SIEM)applications, or to any other particular kind of application.Additionally, the techniques introduced here are not limited to use withsecurity-related anomaly and security threat detection; rather, thetechniques can be employed with essentially any suitable behavioralanalysis (e.g., fraud detection, pattern analysis, or environmentalmonitoring) based on, for example, machine data. In addition, thedisclosed security techniques can benefit any processing systems thatprocess or store structured, semi-structured, and/or unstructured data,especially when this data is stored in large volumes across nodes, whichtends to be the case when with raw or minimally processed data.

For example, the disclosed embodiments can detect anomalies based onevents that include raw data associated with specific points in time(e.g., time series data). Each event can be associated with a timestampthat can be derived from the raw data in the respective event,determined through interpolation between temporally proximate eventshaving known timestamps, or determined based on other configurable rulesfor associating timestamps with events. During operation of a dataintake and query system, ingested raw data is divided into blocksdelineated by time frames. The blocks of raw data are indexed and storedas time-stamped events.

In some instances, the raw data is stored in a predefined format, wheredata items with specific data formats are stored at predefined locationsin the data. For example, the raw data may include data stored asfields. In other instances, raw data may not have a predefined format;that is, the data is not at fixed, predefined locations, but the datadoes have repeatable patterns and is not random. This means that someraw data can comprise various data items of different data types thatmay be stored at different locations within the raw data. Each event caninclude a field that has a number of characters in length, and can bequeried to extract their contents.

In some instances, raw data is stored as events that are indexed bytimestamps but are also associated with predetermined data items. Thisstructure is essentially a modification of database systems that requirepredetermining data items for subsequent searches. These systems can bemodified to retain remaining raw data for subsequent re-processing forother predetermined data items. Specifically, the raw data can bedivided into time-indexed segments. The events can be searched only forthe predetermined data items during a search time, and re-processedlater in time to re-index the raw data, and generate events with newpredetermined data items. As such, a system can store raw data in avariety of structures. The disclosed network security platform canoperate to detect anomalies and identify threats based any such data.

Existing security tools identify threats to networks based on anomalouspatterns or behavior on the network as detected in accordance withthreat rules. For example, an usual pattern of data being transferred toa remote server by a user that has never done so in the past, or evenaccessed such data in the past, constitutes an anomaly. A threat rule tothe enterprise may be defined based on this type of anomaly. Networksecurity platforms for different data processing systems predefine anumber of threat rules based on a number of anomalies. When deployed, anenterprise can detect the predefined and non-configurable threats andanomalies. Hence, the definitions of threat rules based on anomalies arehardcoded into the network security platforms. Thus, when a networksecurity platform is deployed on an enterprise, the enterprise ismonitored based on a finite number of non-configurable threat rules.

Specifically, the threat rules are preconfigured with non-configurablelogic defined based on anomalies. Hence, the non-configurable logicdefines the one or more hardcoded threat rules that are executable by anenterprise to identify threats to that enterprise. The threat rules areapplied to activity on the enterprise network to determine when certainactivity poses a security threat. Similarly, any actions taken inresponse to detecting anomalies are also based on hardcoded rules. As aresult, different enterprises use the same hardcoded rules to detectsecurity threats, which results in unreliable and inaccurateidentification of threats because the rules cannot be tailored for eachindividual enterprise.

In some instances, the hardcoded rules are applied to an enterpriseroutinely to account for any changes in activity. In other words,anomaly action rules or threat rules are refreshed by executing thesepreconfigured rules from time to time. For example, the rules may beexecuted periodically on enterprise activity occurring over apreconfigured timeframe such as every three days, based on the last fourdays of activity on the enterprise. In some instances, the consistencyof threats is maintained by deleting all existing threats andre-computing them from scratch periodically (e.g., once per day) basedon the non-configurable rules. This process is computationally intensiveand not scalable for routinely processing a relatively large number ofanomalies.

The disclosed embodiments overcome the aforementioned drawbacks withtechniques for users to customize anomaly action rules and threat rules.When deployed, embodiments of the disclosed network security platformprovides a UI that facilitates creating, modifying, or deleting rules byusers. Accordingly, users of different enterprise networks can readilycustomize rules for their particular needs. This ensures reliableidentification of potential or actual threats. By enabling customizationof complex rules in an easy-to-use manner, the disclosed securitytechniques can avoid threats that are defined too broadly and reduce therisk of false positives, and can avoid defining threats too narrowly andreduce the risk of failing to identify threats. This further reduces theneed for administrators to manually evaluate identified threats, todetermine whether a legitimate threat actually exists.

In particular, the embodiments introduced here employ a variety ofsecurity techniques and mechanisms for customizing threats based onanomalous activity detection in a networked environment in ways that aremore insightful and reduce the number of false positives compared toexisting techniques. The disclosed customizable security platform is“big data” driven and can employ a number of machine learning mechanismsto perform security analytics. More specifically, the customizablesecurity platform introduced here can perform user behavioral analytics(UBA), or more generally user/entity behavioral analytics (UEBA), todetect the security related anomalies and identify threats, regardlessof whether such anomalies and threats are previously known or unknown.

The disclosed embodiments introduced here include a UI and customizablelogic that allow users to readily influence the definition of rulesbased on a pattern of one or more anomalies. The underlying logicenables customization of the rules including attributes that definethreat rules or anomaly action rules. The UI includes a number ofwindows and controls displayed in ordered steps to reduce the cognitiveburden on users when creating, modifying, or deleting complex rulesenabled by the customizable logic. Hence, threat identification andresponses to anomaly detection can be tailored by users for theirenterprises as a result of the easy-to-use UI.

The disclosed security techniques refine the concept of an anomalypattern and expand upon it to include, for example, time ordering andnumerous anomaly filters and associated attributes that can becustomized for particular entities. For example, configurable rules mayinclude one or more attributes that can be customized by operators,administrators, or any user that is able to do so. In some instances,some or all of the attributes of existing rules can be customized.Moreover, some or all of the rules can be disabled and enabled. Forexample, embodiments of the disclosed network security platform can beshipped to customers with the rules disabled by default, and then userscan customize and/or enable individual rules after installation of thenetwork security platform for operation on the customer's network. Insome embodiments, the rules can be created at runtime for application onnetworks of individual customers.

Thus, users can customize the threats because the rules used to definethe threats are configurable. In other words, users can liberallyinfluence the definition of a threat for a particular network. Theconfigurable rules can be set to identify new threat types, unknown tothe data processing system, as opposed to the fixed palette of threattypes available in exclusively preconfigured systems that change onlywith new releases of the entire network security platform.

In addition, new threat types may be added to the system long after thelaunch of the system. This can be done by creating new threat rules at alater point in time that look for additional anomaly patterns, whichwere never searched for before that point in time. The ability of thethreat rules to process anomalies in any period of time in the pastallows the late processing of all the anomalies for new types ofthreats, not know at the time of the anomaly generation.

In some embodiments, the execution of each configurable ruleincrementally processes recently detected anomalies instead of everyanomaly from the initial launch of the security platform. This allowsfor custom threat processing that is scalable to vast numbers ofanomalies. Even batch processing of all the anomalies in the system froma beginning point in time is relatively fast because of the patterndetection algorithm employed by the threat rules.

Also introduced here are customizable actions (e.g., permanent deletionor temporary deletion by moving to trash memory, score adjustment,restore from trash, watchlist changes) for anomalies that affect threatsand can cause the deletion or score update of existing threats. Thecustomizable anomaly action rules can be executed to update existingthreats incrementally, and based only on the anomalies that havechanged, rather than updating based on all existing anomalies at the endof the day, regardless of anomalies that changed or remain the same. Theanomaly action rules can always re-validate only the threats that areassociated with the affected anomalies. Hence, it is always incrementalin addition to being scalable.

That is, not only are the disclosed network security techniquesscalable, but are also rapid enough to perform re-validation of threatsin real-time, immediately after changes to anomalies have occurred andas often as changes occur during the day. In other words, the securitytechniques are flexible enough such that threats based on anomalies thatchange can be updated to reflect the change in real-time and updated atthe same frequency as the anomalies change. As a result, the threats canalways be refreshed to reflect the most recent changes throughout dailyoperations instead of waiting for the end of each day to fix anyinconsistencies that were introduced throughout the day by acting onanomalies. When anomalies change, the scores of all the associatedentities (e.g., user, device, application, domain) can also bedynamically re-validated in real-time because each entity known to thesystem can be scored based on anomalies with which the entity isassociated and their score.

In some embodiments, the configurable rules are akin to content ratherthan threat creation logic that is hardcoded in the network securityplatform. Because the configurable rules are operable similar tocontent, they can be released and shipped independently of a networksecurity platform's releases. For example, rules can be bundled intopackages that are versioned. Anyone can create rules, including thedeveloper of the network security platform or third parties. The rulespackage can be bundled as a package sent to a customer, and installed toany UBA instance. A new version of the rules package can be released andused to transparently update the older versions of the rules package onany network security platform. As such, treating threat rules as contentcan make them autonomously deployable, and UBA has the tools (e.g., arule packager) to make package installation transparent and reliable.

In some embodiments, the UI is a graphical user interface (GUI) thatincludes a series of windows and/or prompts to guide a user whendefining threat rules or anomaly action rules. The GUI can also be usedto manage custom threat rules or anomaly action rules. For example, theGUI can be used to edit existing customized threat rules for subsequentuse on current and/or past activities of a network, or to determinecurrent and/or past anomalies that constitute a threat. In someembodiments, a rule packager does not have a UI. Instead, for example,the interface may be a command line interface.

Thus, the disclosed embodiments can detect anomalies (e.g., patterns ofanomalies), respond with custom actions, and identify custom threatsproduced by a user, a device, or an application, for example, regardlessof whether the entity that causes the anomalies or threats is fromoutside or inside the organization's network. Additional securityanalytics techniques that can be adopted by the security tools includebehavioral analytics that enable organizations of any size or skillsetto detect and respond to unknown threats, which have been influenced byrules customized by users of the security platform.

The behavioral analytics can be based on, for example, machine learning,behavior modeling, peer group analysis, classification, statisticalmodels, and graph analysis. These analyses can utilize, for example,Markovian processing flows, inference and grouping processes, and riskscoring mechanisms to develop user and entity profiles in order tocompare and contrast activities, which ultimately allow the platform todetect and expose anomalies and threats. Also, as mentioned above, thenetwork security platform can include a U I that enables users toinfluence the detection and exposure of anomalies and threats withcustom rules. The resulting anomalies and threats or data derivedtherefrom can be rendered as visualizations on the UI. The securityplatform can be deployed at any of various locations in a private and/orpublic network to receive or monitor events that occur on local orremote computing devices.

The disclosed network security platform can process large volumes ofdata from multiple data sources that have different data formats and mayprovide data at very high data rates. In some embodiments, incoming datais processed using machine learning/data science techniques to extractknowledge from large volumes of data that are structured,semi-structured, or unstructured. For example, supervised and/orunsupervised machine learning can be employed to make it unnecessary toknow in advance what anomalous activity constitutes a threat. In certainembodiments, incoming event data is evaluated in real-time and/or batchprocessing. For example, real-time processing continuously monitors andanalyzes the incoming event data (e.g., in the form of an unbounded datastream) to uncover anomalies and threats.

When batch processing, historical data and third-party data areprocessed, optionally with the incoming real-time event data, touncover, for example, more subtle anomalies and threats than thereal-time processing path can uncover because of the real-timeprocessing path's responsive time constraints. Batch processing mayoccur synchronously with real-time processing or in accordance with apredefined schedule.

FIGS. 2A and 2B collectively show a table that includes exampleanomalies that can be detected by machine learning models, as well asvarious event views and fields that can be used by the models to receiverelevant information about the events for performing further analytics.

The detected anomalies or identified threats can automatically trigger acustom action, such as stopping the intrusion, shutting down networkaccess, locking out users, preventing information theft or informationtransfer, shutting down software and or hardware processes, and thelike. In certain embodiments, the discovered anomalies and identifiedthreats may be presented to a network operator for further evaluation.As an alternative or in addition to automatically taking custom actionbased on the discovered anomalies and threats, the decisions by the usercan be provided as feedback data in order to update and improve themodels in a supervised learning configuration.

In the real-time data path, anomalies, threat indicators, and threatsdiscovered by a batch analyzer may be actionable automatically or may bepresented to a human operator for decision on whether to take action.The action taken by the operator to validate or invalidate conclusionsreached by the batch analyzer may serve as a source of feedback to thesecurity platform to improve its evaluation of subsequently processeddata.

The anomalies, threat indicators, and threats, or data indicative ofthese items, may be provided to a UI review by a human operator. Forexample, a visualization and a threat alert may be presented to thehuman operator for review and possible action. The output of an analysismay also automatically trigger custom actions or preconfigured actionssuch as terminating access by a user, terminating a file transfer, orany other action that may neutralize threats. In certain embodiments,only notifications are provided to the UI system for review by the humanoperator. The event data that underlies the notifications or that givesrise to the detection can be persistently stored in a database. If thehuman operator decides to investigate a particular notification, theoperator may access the event data (including raw event data and anyassociated information) that supports the anomalies or threat detection.On the other hand, if the threat detection is a false positive, thehuman operator may so indicate upon being presented with the anomaly orthe threat, and modify or delete rules accordingly. The rejection of theanalysis result may also be provided to the database. The operatorfeedback information (e.g., whether an alarm is accurate or false) maybe employed to update the model to improve future evaluation.

3.1. Anomalies and Threats

The disclosed network security platform includes customizable rules thatenable users to customize operations of the network security platform.The customizable rules can be part of a rules package in addition toexisting preconfigured and/or non-configurable rules. Examples of thecustomizable rules include anomaly action rules and threat rules. Theanomaly action rules can define “rule actions” (also referred to as“actions”) that occur in response to certain detected anomalies. Thecustom threat rules can be used to identify security threats based onthe detected anomalies. Thus, the threats can be identified based on oneor more preconfigured, non-configurable, and/or configurable rulesapplied to the detected anomalies, which can trigger actions inaccordance with anomaly action rules.

FIG. 19 is a block diagram illustrating a processing hierarchy 300 fordetecting anomalies, identifying threat indicators, and identifyingthreats. Reducing false positives in identifying security threats to thenetwork is one goal of the network security platform. In this regard, instep 302, the flow diagram depicts a large amount of incoming event datathat is subjected to an anomaly detection process. The anomaly actionrules are part of this processing stage through which all newly detectedanomalies must pass before being registered and used to identifythreats.

In step 304, the resulting anomaly data includes numerous anomalies fromacross a computer network. For example, a detected anomaly pattern is anunusual activity on a computer network that is often associated with oneor more entities such as physical computing devices, virtual computingdevices, users, software modules, accounts, identifiers, and/oraddresses. An anomaly or a set of anomalies may be evaluated (e.g.scored) together, which evaluation may result in a determination of athreat.

In some embodiments, the anomaly data of step 304 is subjected to athreat indicator identification process. Threat indicators can bedefined and detected as an additional type of indicator of a potentialsecurity breach. Threat indicators are an intermediary level ofpotential security breach indicator defined within a hierarchy ofsecurity breach indicators that includes anomalies at the bottom level,threat indicators as an intermediate level, and threats at the toplevel.

The anomaly data of 304 or threat indicator data of 306 can be subjectedto a threat identification process including customized threat rules, inaddition to any preconfigured or non-configurable threat rules, toidentify threats. The threat rules represent an escalation of events ofconcern and are evaluated to identify if a threat to the security of thenetwork exists. For example, hundreds of millions of packets of eventdata from various sources may be processed to yield 100 anomalies, whichmay be further processed in accordance with threat rules to identifythreats.

3.2. Detecting Anomalies

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram describing an example process for detectinganomalies. Process 400 begins at step 402 with receiving event dataindicative of activity by a particular entity associated with a computernetwork. In some embodiments, the event data is received by a securityplatform from a plurality of entities associated with the computernetwork via an Extract, Transform, Load (ETL) pipeline.

In step 404, the event data is processed through an anomaly model. Insome embodiments, the anomaly model includes at least model processinglogic defining a process for assigning an anomaly score to the eventdata and a model state defining a set of parameters for applying themodel processing logic. In some examples, numerous anomaly modelinstances may be instantiated for each entity associated with thecomputer network. Each anomaly model instance may be of a particularmodel type configured to detect a particular category of anomalies basedon incoming event data. For example, a computer on the computer networkcan be associated with various anomaly models, with one of the anomalymodels configured to detect an anomaly indicative of a machine generatedbeacon communication to an entity outside the computer network.

In some embodiments, the security platform includes anomaly modelsconfigured to detect anomaly patterns such as a number of differentkinds of anomalous activity including lateral movement, blacklistedentities, malware communications, rare events, beacon activity, and thelike. Each of these anomaly models would include unique processing logicand parameters for applying the processing logic. Similarly, each modelinstance (i.e. for a particular entity) may include unique processinglogic and parameters for applying the processing logic. In someembodiments, processing of event data is performed in real-time as theevent data is received. In such an embodiment, real-time processing maybe performed by a processing engine optimized for high rate or real-timeprocessing.

In step 406, an anomaly or anomaly pattern is assigned a score based onthe processing of the event data through the anomaly model. Calculationof the anomaly score is done by the processing logic of the anomalymodel and represents a quantification of a degree to which the processedevent data is associated with anomalous activity on the network. In someembodiments, the anomaly score is a value in a specified range. Forexample, the resulting anomaly score may be a value between 0 and 10,with 0 being the least anomalous (e.g., substantially conforms toexpected activity) and 10 being the most anomalous (e.g., usualactivity).

In step 408, an indicator of a particular anomaly or anomalous patternis output if the score satisfies a specified criterion (e.g., exceeds athreshold). Continuing with the given example, the specified criterionmay be set such that an anomaly is detected if the anomaly score is 6 orabove, for example. The specified criterion need not be static, however.In some embodiments, the criterion (e.g., threshold) is dynamic andchanges based on situational factors. The situational factors mayinclude volume of event data, presence or absence of pre-conditionalevents, user configurations, and volume of detected anomalies.

3.3. Anomaly Action Rules

A purpose of anomaly action rules is to define one or more actions thatare to be applied on anomalies when specified criteria or conditions aresatisfied. A characteristic of these rules is that, in the basic case,they can operate in real-time. The anomaly action rules are executed aspart of the anomaly creation workflow, and their actions can be appliedto anomalies that were just detected, provided that the characteristicsof those anomalies were designated by filters of the anomaly actionrules.

In some embodiments, an anomaly action rules engine has variousfunctionalities that includes anomaly detection, dynamic score control,and dynamic watchlist updates (e.g., adding or removing anomalies fromwatchlists). These functions can have underlying advanced filteringavailable for customization with a UI, across diverse data and metadata(e.g., anomalies, users, devices, applications, domains) of a computernetwork. These functions provide a greater flexibility for users tocontrol the outcome of results (e.g., security threat identification) byreducing false positives in a unique network environment, increasing ordecreasing the scores for anomalies thereby controlling the score of thethreat, using watchlists for easier investigation purposes, and thelike.

A new anomaly action rule can be created in accordance with a series ofdefined steps, which can include one or more sub-steps. Each step orsub-step can include prompts for a user to input criteria that definesan anomaly action rule. A prompt may include fields or selectableoptions used to define the criteria. In some embodiments, a new anomalyaction rule is defined through a series of steps including at leastdefining (i) the action to be taken on the anomalies selected by therules criteria and (ii) an anomaly filter including a set of criteriafor any attributes of the anomalies or entities (e.g., users , devices,applications, domains) associated with the anomalies.

After the user has input or selected a minimal amount of necessaryinformation used to define an anomaly action rule, the anomaly actionrule can be stored in a data store. The anomaly action rules can then beindividually enabled, disabled, modified, or deleted. Each of the stepsand sub-steps are part of the underlying logic that supports a UI, whichreduces the complex process of creating or modifying anomaly actionrules into a series of user friendly interactive steps.

A rule action is executed for each detected anomaly that matches thecriteria specified by the anomaly action rule. Each of the steps orsub-steps described herein can be presented on one or more windows,controls, or prompts of a UI. The ability to customize anomaly actionrules is enabled by the underlying logic of the network securityplatform as described above. For example, the underlying logic includesprocesses that facilitate creating new anomaly action rules or modifyingexisting anomaly action rules. In some embodiments, anomaly action rulescan be created by using an existing anomaly as the template for itsfilter. In this case the anomaly action rule's filter is prepopulatedwith the values of the anomaly's attributes and the user can furthercustomize the anomaly action rule. Thus, the processes reduce thecustomization of complex anomaly action rules into a series of definedsteps and sub-steps that guide a user to create or modify the anomalyaction rules.

In some embodiments, the underlying logic includes a three-step processto create a new anomaly action rule. An anomaly action rule can becreated in accordance with the series of predefined steps and sub-stepsthat may be presented on a series of UI screen displays, as describedfurther below. After inputting a minimal amount of criteria, an anomalyaction rule can be stored in a data store. Hence, the disclosedembodiments facilitate the input of criteria to reduce the complexprocess of customizing anomaly action rules into a user friendlyinteractive process.

This disclosure is not limited to using three steps of underlying logic.Instead, some embodiments can include fewer steps, more steps, adifferent order of the steps, or combination of steps, could allow theuser to skip steps, and/or could automatically populate certain fieldswith data. As such, the embodiments include any number of steps that arenecessary and sufficient to define anomaly action rules.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram depicting an example process 500 for creatingor editing (i.e., modifying) an anomaly action rule. In step 502, theprocess for creating a new anomaly action rule is initiated. Forexample, user input can indicate a desire to create the new anomalyaction rule.

In step 504, input is received that defines a rule action for the newanomaly action rule. For example, a user can select one of three ruleactions including adding or removing detected anomalies of a watchlist,re-scoring anomalies, or deleting anomalies. As explained further below,the network security platform monitors for anomalies using the anomalyaction rules and, when a matching anomaly has been detected, performsthe designated rule action of the anomaly action rule.

For example, if the rule action specifies adding the anomalies to aselected watchlist, then any matching anomalies are added to thewatchlist. In some embodiments, various user-defined watchlists areselectable from a menu on the UI when configuring the new anomaly actionrule. Note that in at least some embodiments a rule action to remove ananomaly from a watchlist cannot apply to newly detected anomalies thathave not yet been added to any watchlists. Hence, the rule action ofremoving anomalies only applies when that rule action is executed onexisting anomalies. In some instances, a number of anomaly action rulescan be applied to existing or future anomalies, and the order forapplying the anomaly action rules can be set by a user. As used herein,an “existing” anomaly may refer to an anomaly that has previously beendetected and/or has been registered with the network security platform.As used herein, a “future” anomaly may refer to an anomaly that has notyet been detected by the network security platform and/or is notregistered thereon.

If the rule action is set to re-score anomalies, the user can set anabsolute score (e.g., integer value) or relative score (e.g., deltainteger value) for matching anomalies. In either case, positive andnegative values may be input. An absolute score will cause scoresassociated with matching anomalies to have the same score value asdefined by the anomaly action rule. For example, the anomaly action rulecan have a score ranging between 0 and 10, where 0 is the lowest valueand 10 is the highest value. A relative score will cause scoresassociated with matching anomalies to change by adding or subtracting adesignated value. Multiple anomaly action rules can operate on the sameanomalies, effectively creating a pipeline of score adjustments. Hence,the order of execution of anomaly action rules can be critical toproduce desired results. For example, a first anomaly action rule canset the score of all anomalies with certain characteristics to aspecified score and a second anomaly action rule can additionallyincrease the score of all anomalies with the same characteristics forthe users of a “Management HR Group” by another specified score.

If the rule action has been designated to delete anomalies, matchinganomalies are either moved to a trash memory or permanently deleted, asdesignated by the anomaly action rule. If the rule action is to discardmatching anomalies by moving them to trash, then the network securityplatform will mark matching anomalies as deleted but maintain them in atrash memory. The anomalies in the trash memory are not permanentlydeleted from the system and can be retrieved later. If the rule actionis set to permanently delete matching anomalies, then the networksecurity platform discards the matching anomalies permanently, whichcannot be retrieved later because they are not stored in memory.

In step 506, a scope for applying the anomaly action rule is set. Inparticular, the anomaly action rule can be set to apply to futureanomalies or future and existing anomalies. If the user selects to applythe anomaly action rule to future anomalies, then the anomaly actionrule will be applied to all anomalies ongoing from the current point intime. If the user selects to apply the anomaly action rule to future andexisting anomalies, then the anomaly action rule will be applied tothose anomalies already detected in addition to any future anomalies.

In step 508, one or more filters of the anomaly action rule are set. Thedisclosed embodiments may include a library of predefined filters thatare selectable by a user. In some embodiments, a filter can be definedusing anomaly attributes including entity attributes. In someembodiments, there is a standard set of attributes common to allanomalies. However, each anomaly type can have one or more additionalcustomizable attributes. The filters of anomaly action rules can utilizethe custom anomaly fields along with standard ones.

Examples of predefined filters may include anomaly categories, anomalytype, anomaly watchlists, log format, and score. Normally an anomalyreferences multiple entities (e.g., users, devices, applications,domains). Accordingly, a filter may define attributes of entitiesassociated with anomalies. For example, a filter can define an increaseby 2 points of the score of all the anomalies that refer to a user inthe company's management OU.

The library may include groups of filters detailing anomalies associatedwith entities such as user anomalies, apps anomalies, and domainsanomalies. Examples for user anomalies include anomalies count, cities,countries, HR record, OUs, specific user, states, threats count, userstatus, and threats count. Examples for app anomalies may includeanomalies count, app watchlists, specific apps, and threats count.Examples for domain anomalies may include anomalies count, domainwatchlists, specific domains, and threat counts. A user can select anyone of these predefined filters, and set additional criteria for thefilter.

For example, a user may select an anomalies categories filter, andcriteria for the filter including any of account takeover, allowed,beaconing, blacklists, blocked, denial of service, exfiltration,external alarms, and external attack. In some embodiments, the networksecurity platform enables the user to search the library of anomalies byinputting matching keywords. Once a user has selected a filter from thefilter library, and set criteria for that filter, the user can move tothe next step for customizing the anomaly action rule.

In step 510, properties of the anomaly action rule are defined. Forexample, the anomaly action rule is named, and a user can input anoptional description of the anomaly action rule. The name and optionaldescription can be used later when identifying the anomaly action rulefor subsequent editing or deletion. For example, the user cansubsequently select the new anomaly action rule from the library ofexisting anomaly action rules and delete the selected anomaly actionrule. In step 512, the new anomaly action rule is stored in memory suchas a data store.

In step 514, the newly created anomaly action rule can be executed. Therule action of the anomaly action rule is executed upon detection ofanomalies (e.g., a pattern of anomalies) that satisfy the criteria ofthe newly created anomaly action rule. In step 516, the newly createdanomaly action rule is accessed for editing. In some embodiments, byselecting the anomaly action rule, the user can skip to any of steps 504through 510, and make modifications to the criteria for those steps orsub-steps. The updated new anomaly action rule is then stored in memoryfor subsequent execution on matching anomalies.

3.4. Custom Threat Rules

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram depicting an example process 600 for creatingor modifying a new custom threat rule. A new custom threat rule can becreated in accordance with a series of ordered steps, which can includea series of sub-steps. Each step or sub-step can include prompts foruser input including fields or one or more selectable options thatdefine the custom threat rule. After the user has input or selected aminimal amount of necessary attributes used to define a custom threatrule, the custom threat rule can be stored in a rules data store. Thecustom threat rules can then be individually enabled, disabled, ordeleted. Each of the steps and sub-steps described herein is part of theunderlying logic that supports a UI, which reduces the complex processof creating or modifying threat rules into a series of user friendly,interactive steps. That is, the custom threat rule can be created inaccordance with the series of steps and sub-steps, presenting them onone or more windows, controls, or prompts of a UI.

In step 602, the process for creating a new custom threat rule isinitiated by, for example, user input indicating a desire to create thenew custom threat rule. In step 604, creation of a new custom threatrule begins by receiving input defining an attribute such as an entitytype. Examples of an entity include a user, device, session, or domain.The custom threat rule's entity type defines what entities the customthreat rule will process.

The custom threat rule can scan anomalies looking for anomaly patternsthat satisfy the custom threat rule. The scanning is not necessarilyrandom; instead, it occurs per known system entity of the custom threatrule's entity type. For example, a custom threat rule with a user entitytype will process the selected anomalies (by its filter) per user andwill search for patterns in each user's anomalies and not across all theselectable anomalies. Hence, in some embodiments, an entity type is thecornerstone to how custom threat rules operate.

In step 606, the user inputs additional attributes that define the newcustom threat rule including at least one of an entity filter, acondition, or a time period. An entity filter is optional and definescriteria for the type of entity such that any entities matching theentity filter criteria satisfy the entity filter of the new customthreat rule. As such, only the entities of the specified entity typethat match the criteria are processed. For example, a custom threat rulemay process the anomalies of all users looking for anomaly patterns peruser. Another custom threat rule may process only the anomalies of theusers in a specific country for a second anomaly pattern.

For example, if a user entity is selected in step 604, the filteroptions may include anomalies count, city, country, HR record, OU,specific users, state, threat counts, user status, user watchlists, orthe like. A user can select one or more of the filters and define one ormore criteria or constrains associated with the selected filter. Forexample, if the user selects an anomalies count, the user can constrainthe anomalies count to be bounded by a user-defined number.

Conditions are used to defined one or more anomaly patterns. An anomalypattern is defined as a group or set of anomalies. The anomalies in eachset are selected by an anomaly filter, which may include any combinationof anomaly or entity attributes. Thus, in some embodiments, there can beonly one distinct anomaly filter per anomaly set. In some embodiments, aminimum anomaly count is defined per set. The pattern's group maycontain any number of anomaly sets.

In some embodiments, a condition defines an anomaly such that anyentities of the type of entity associated with the anomaly satisfy thecondition of the custom threat rule. In some embodiments, a user canselect an anomaly type such as those shown in the table of FIGS. 2A and2B. The user defines an anomaly count for the anomaly type andassociates one or more filters with the anomaly type. The anomalyfilters can select anomalies in a manner similar to that described abovewith respect to anomaly action rules. That is, an anomaly filter cancontain attributes of the anomalies themselves or of the entitiestypically referenced by anomalies. For example, a custom threat rulewith user entity type may process all anomalies of types X and Yassociated with at least one device of type ‘Firewall’ (or with externalscope) per user. Examples of an anomaly filter may include a category,watchlist, log forum, or score. Examples of criteria associated withdevices include anomalies count, resolutions, scopes, types, watchlists,specific devices, or threat counts. Examples of criteria associated withapplications include anomalies count, watchlists, specific apps, orthreat counts.

For example, if a user selects an anomaly categories filter, the usercan then select to include one or more categories including accounttakeover, allowed, beaconing, blacklists, blocked, denial of service,exfiltration, external alarms, external attack, incoming, and the like.In another example, if the user selects a score filter, the user is thenprompted to designate an anomaly score value or range between 0 and 10,with 0 being the least anomalous and 10 being the most anomalous. Inanother example, if the user selects an apps filter, the user isprompted to select from one or more applications. The user can repeatstep 606 any number of times for several anomaly types used to definethe custom threat rule.

In some embodiments, the processing of anomalies of a custom threat ruleis done per entity of the custom threat rule's entity type. A pattern isdetected when in the given time interval there is at least the minimumnumber of anomalies per set for all sets of the pattern's group. If thepattern is ordered, then the anomalies of each next set have tochronologically occur after at least the minimum number of anomalies ofthe previous set in the pattern's group.

For example, an instance of the ordered pattern with the sets 2anomalies of type X and 5 anomalies of category Y in 6 hours could bethe following: X, X, X, Y, X, Y, Y, Y, Y, X, Y provided that all theprevious 11 anomalies occurred within 6 hours. These 11 anomalies willbecome part of the custom threat to be raised by the rule for thisoccurrence of the pattern.

In some embodiments, a user can optionally specify time relatedconditions for the anomaly patterns. Examples include an anomaliesinterval, maximum threat duration, and threats gap attributes of theanomaly patterns. The anomalies interval sets the minimum anomalies ofevery set of a pattern that have to occur at most within this interval.If the anomalies are detected but the interval between the first and thelast is greater than the set interval, then the pattern is not matched.

For maximum threat duration and threats gap conditions, for example,custom threat rules are executed on a daily basis and in every executionthey process the anomalies generated between the time of the execution(t1) and t1−anomalies_interval. If the period t1−anomalies_interval isless than 24 hours, then the processed period becomes [t1, t1−24 hours].

If in yesterday's execution the custom threat rule's pattern wasdetected and threat T1 was raised, then if in today's execution the samepattern maybe detected, the custom threat rule can either raise a newthreat T2 or merge the anomalies of the new occurrence of the pattern tothreat T1. This decision is based on the maximum threat duration andthreat gap conditions.

For the maximum threat duration, if the new anomalies found today wereadded to T1 without violating the maximum threat duration constraint(i.e., without making T1 last longer that this duration), then they willbe added to T1 and T2 will not be generated. The duration of a threatcan be defined as the time period between its earliest and its latestanomalies. For the threats gap, if in today's run more anomalies arefound that that satisfy one of the pattern's filter, then the processkeeps adding them to the last found threat T1 as long as thechronological gap between every such anomaly and the previous one issmaller than the threats gap.

A time period condition defines a scope for processing anomalies suchthat any entities of the type of entity associated with anomaliesoccurring within the time period satisfy the time period of the customthreat rule. Examples of the anomaly processing include processinganomalies from the present day forward and/or processing at least someanomalies from the past. If the user selects processing of anomaliesfrom the past, then the user may be prompted to either a window defininga time range from the instant day back in time. Alternatively, the usercan select for processing any anomalies beginning from a specified dateto the present date.

For example, a custom threat rules package can work for future anomalies(e.g., anomalies that represent events with future dates). Hence, thethreats rule package could be installed today and the evaluation windowfor one of the threat rules can be set to begin 5 days from today. Ifthe threat rule gets executed on May 26, 2016 at 2 AM, it will look forevents that occurred between May 21, 2016 and May 26, 2016 (2 AM). Therule can continue running for all days in the future (e.g., it willconsider the present day minus 5 days on every execution). If the userwants to see if the threat rule triggers on any past anomalies, the usercan edit the rule via the UI.

In some embodiments, custom threat rules go back at least 24 hours asdescribed above with respect to the maximum threat duration and threatsgap conditions from the beginning of the day of the execution and notfrom the execution time. As such, if the execution time is 2 AM on May26, 2016 and the anomalies interval (i.e., evaluation window) is 5 days,then the processed period will be May 21, 2016 00:00-May 26, 2016 00:00.

In step 608, the user can input one or more properties of the threatsgenerated in accordance with the custom threat rule. For example, thethreats can be assigned a score ranging between 0 and 10, with 0 beingthe least threatening and 10 being the most threatening. In someembodiments, the user can also specify use of an existing custom threattype such as malware, compromised account, user at high risk, dataexfiltration after account takeover, internal server at high risk,compromised web server, exfiltration, possible phishing attack, or thelike. Alternatively, the user can create a custom new threat type thatincludes a custom description and can include threat recommendationsinstructive of how to handle the threat.

In step 610, the user can input properties that define the new customthreat rule. For example, the user can name the new custom threat rule,and optionally provide a description. The name and description can beused later when identifying the threat rule for subsequent editing ordeletion. For example, the user can subsequently select the new customthreat rule from a library of existing rules and edit or delete theselected custom threat rule. In step 612, the new anomaly action rule isstored in memory such as a data store.

In step 614, the newly created custom threat rule can be executed. Asecurity threat that satisfies the attributes of the newly createdcustom threat rule constitutes a threat to the computer network. In step616, any identified security threat or data indicative of the identifiedsecurity threat can be displayed on a display device. In step 618, thenewly created custom threat rule is accessed for editing. In someembodiments, by selecting the custom threat rule, the user can skip toany of steps 604 through 610, and make modifications to the attributesfor those steps or sub-steps. The updated custom threat rule is thenstored in memory for subsequent execution on matching anomalies.

3.5. Identifying Threats

In operation, the one or more preconfigured, non-configurable, and/orconfigurable (e.g., custom) threat rules are applied to event data toidentify threats based on detected anomalies as described above. In someembodiments, the threat rules are applied to identify threat indicatorsby processing anomaly data through a threat indicator model, which, likethe anomaly models, may also be a machine learning model. Similar to theanomaly models, a threat indicator model includes model processing logicdefining a process for assigning a threat indicator score based onprocessing the anomaly data and a model state defining a set ofparameters for applying the model processing logic.

In some embodiments, processing of the anomaly data may includeaggregating anomaly data across the computer network, correlatingdifferent anomalies within the anomaly data, and/or enriching anomalydata by using external data sources. In some embodiments, the anomalydata is processed in real-time or near real-time as the event data isreceived and anomalies are generated, with a processing engine optimizedfor high rate or real-time processing. In some embodiments, the anomalydata is processed in batch mode by a processing engine optimized forhigh volumes of data. The threat indicators can be assigned scores basedon, for example, the processing logic of the threat indicator model. Ascore represent a quantification of a degree to which the processedanomaly data is associated with activity that may be a threat to thesecurity of the network.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram depicting an example process 700 foridentifying a threat to the security of a computer network based onthreat indicators. The process of identifying a threat based on acorrelation of anomalies is described elsewhere in this disclosure. Thesame concept applies here, except that the threat is identified based oncorrelating identified threat indicators instead of the anomaly data.

In step 702, the threat indicator data, or at least a subset of thethreat indicator data, is correlated. In step 704, a set of candidatesecurity threats is identified based on the correlation. Types ofcorrelation can include network-wide correlation for malware threats,connected component correlation for kill chain type threats, per-entityanalysis for kill chain type threats, and per-burst analysis for insiderthreats.

In step 706, the threat indicator data is compared against thepreconfigured, non-configurable, and/or configurable rules associatedwith each candidate threat. For example, an insider threat may beassociated with patterns identified by the user or security experts. Instep 708, a pattern matching score is generated based on a result of thecomparing. In some embodiments, the pattern matching score is a value ina set range. For example, the resulting pattern matching score may be avalue between 0 and 10, with 0 being the least likely to be a threat and10 being the most likely to be a threat.

In step 710, a security threat is identified if the pattern matchingscore satisfies a specified criterion of the threat rules, which may becustomized as described above such that a threat is identified if thepattern matching score is, for example, 6 or above. The specifiedcriterion need not be static, however. In some embodiments, thecriterion is dynamic and changes based on situational factors.Situational factors may include volume of event data, presence orabsence of pre-conditional events, user configurations, volume ofdetected anomalies, and involvement of mission critical systems.

4.0. User Interface for Network Security

FIG. 8 is an illustrative view of a home screen 800 generated by displaydata for display in a UI. As used herein, an example of a UI for anetwork security platform is a graphical user interface (GUI). This maybe the first screen view after log-in by the user. Toolbar 802 also maybe included in all views generated for display in the UI. In thisexample, the toolbar includes an “Explore” tab 804 (e.g., Views tab),“Analytics” tab 806, “Config” tab 806, and “Admin” tab 808 (e.g., UIuser name tab) for log-in.

By clicking on the Explore tab 804, the UI user can toggle the UIbetween a “Threats” view, “Anomalies” view, “Users” view, “Devices”view, and/or “Applications” view. The Threats view provides a listing ofall active threats and the Anomalies view provides a listing of allanomalies. The Users view, Devices view, and Applications view provideseparate listings for each type of entity (namely, users, devices, andapplications, respectively) that is associated with an anomaly orthreat.

The home screen 800 may also include a summary status bar 812indicating, for example, the number of threats, anomalies, total users,total devices, and total apps on the network being monitored. Thesummary status bar 812 can enable the UI user to see, at a glance, avolume of information that can be reviewed and evaluated.

The home screen 800 can additionally include summary charts andillustrations, such as, “Latest Threats” 814, “Latest Anomalies” 816, a“7-Day Threats Timeline” 818, and a “7-Day Anomalies Timeline” 820. Eachof 814 through 820 present a comparison of different threats oranomalies that are most recent or within the previous 7-Day period. Thelisting in the Latest Threats 814 identifies the most recent threats bydate. The listing in the Latest Anomalies 816 identifies the most recentanomalies by date.

The 7-Day Threats Timeline graphic 818 is a timeline showing the volumeof different threats along a timeline. In particular, the ThreatsTimeline 818 shows a timeline of each threat, sorted by threat type. Inthis example, there are seven threat types: “Malware,” “User at HighRisk,” “Remote Account Takeover,” “Suspicious Behavior,” “DataExfiltration by Suspicious User or Device,” “Lateral Movement,” and“Malware Activity.” The timeline shows a circle corresponding to eachoccurrence, which is color-coded to indicate its severity. If there ismore than one threat of the same type on the same date, the circle ismade larger. By hovering over a circle, a bubble is generated thatprovides the date of the threat or threats and prompts the user toselect more detailed information (not shown). Upon clicking on a bubble,the UI generates an associated “Threat Table” view 1200, in the formatshown in FIG. 12.

The 7-Day Anomalies Timeline 820 is a timeline showing the volume ofdifferent anomalies along a timeline. In particular, the AnomaliesTimeline 820 shows a timeline of each anomaly, sorted by anomaly type.In this example, there are four anomaly types: “Blacklisted Domain,”“Excessive Data Transmission,” “Suspicious HTTP Redirects,” and “MachineGenerated Beacon.” The timeline shows a circle corresponding to eachoccurrence, which is color-coded to indicate its severity. If there ismore than one anomaly of the same type on the same date, the circle ismade larger. By hovering over a circle, a bubble is generated thatprovides the date of the anomaly or anomalies and prompts the user toselect more detailed information (not shown). Upon clicking on a bubble,the UI generates an associated “Anomalies Table” view 1000, in theformat shown in FIG. 10.

The example home screen view 800 also prompts a user, via status bar802, to begin a “Threat Review,” “User Review,” or view an “AnalyticsDashboard.” Upon clicking, via the UI, on the Threat Review button 822,a “Threats Details” view 900 is presented, as described with referenceto FIG. 9. As shown in FIG. 9, an example “Threats Details” view 900enables a user to separately click through each active threat that hasbeen identified from the event data. In the upper-left side of the view,a toggle 902 control enables the user to step through each identifiedthreat. Each Threat Details view 900 can identify a particular threat byits type and provides a summary description 904 along with a threatscore 906. The threat score is determined based on, for example, machinelearning from the event data, and provides an indication of the severityof the risk for network compromise associated with the threat.

The Threats Details view 900 can additionally include a status chart 908that provides a Timeline, list of Anomalies, list of Users, list ofDevices, list of Apps, and a suggestion of “What Next?”. The Timelineidentifies the date that the threat began, the last update concerningthe threat, and the duration of time that the threat has been active.The list of Anomalies identifies each type of anomaly that is associatedwith the threat and how many anomalies of each type. The list ofAnomalies also provides a score for each type of anomaly, whichindicates the severity associated with each type of anomaly. The list ofUsers identifies each user associated with the threat and provides ascore for each user. Similarly, the list of Devices and list of Appsidentify each device (by IP address) and App (by file name/type),respectively, along with a score. For each entity (e.g., user, device,and app), a link is included such that, if the link is clicked, the useris taken to a separate view for that selected entity. For example, ifthe link associated with “c827070” 910 is clicked, a “Users Facts” pagewithin the Threat Details is generated.

The Threat Details view 900 additionally prompts the user to take“Actions” 912. By clicking on the Actions control 912, the user canselect from several options (not shown). If the user determines that thethreat is not a concern, the user can select “Not a Threat.” By makingthis selection, the user instructs the network security system to deletethe threat page from the Threats Details view and to no longer identifyit as a threat. As a consequence, the total number of threats willdecrease (as will be depicted in the status bar 812 in FIG. 8). Anotheroption in the Actions tab 912 is the “Email Threat” selection, whichenables the user to email the threat to a designated email address. Yetanother option is the “Export” selection, which enables the user toexport data associated with the threat to another data mining platform.

As shown in FIG. 10, clicking on this link causes the UI to generate an“Anomalies Table” 1000 view that lists and provides high-levelinformation about anomalies. The Anomalies Table 1000 includes a “Groupby Anomaly Type” control 1002 that allows a user to select anomalies, topresent detailed analytics of the selected anomalies. For example, theAnomalies Table 1000 presents an “Anomalies Trend” timeline graphic 1004of the selected anomaly. This includes a line graph indicating a numberof anomalies during periods of time. With this illustration, a UI usercan quickly discern whether a large number of anomalies occurred on aparticular date or time period, and whether there is a trend ofincreasing or decreasing anomalies. By hovering over a point on theline, the UI may generate a bubble indicating the date and number ofanomalies on that date.

The Anomalies Table 1000 also includes a detailed Anomalies listing1006. In the listing, each entry is associated with an “Anomaly Type”1008, one or more “Participants” 1010, a “Summary” 1012, an “AnomalyDate” 1014, and a “Score” 1016. For example, “Machine Generate Beacon”1018, the first listed anomaly type, is associated with a single“Participants,” user “u772036,” two devices “10.134.114.46” and“74.208.60.31,” and a session “bigarmy.net.” The “Summary” of theanomaly is “Periodic, 888md,” and the Anomaly Date 1014 indicates thatthe anomaly occurred on “March 21, 2017 10:13 AM.” Lastly, the scoreassociated with the anomaly is “7.” By clicking on “Machine GenerateBeacon” 1018, the UI navigates to “Anomaly Details” 1100 view as shownin FIG. 11.

For the anomaly corresponding to the Anomaly Details 1100 (“MachineGenerated Beacon”), a single user is the only entity that is associatedwith the anomaly (“u772036”). The Anomaly Details 1100 includes a boxidentifying the “Users” 1102 (e.g., “u772036”) along with the user'sassociated score (not shown). “Users” can include all personnel in theorganization who caused the anomaly, were victims, or otherwiseparticipated in some network activity that triggered the identificationof the anomaly. In this example, the Anomaly Details 1100 additionallyincludes an “Anomaly Relations” box 1104. This box illustrates theconnection, or “relationship” between different entities (users,devices, applications, domain) that participated in the anomaly. In theexample, a relationship exists between the user's internal device“10.134.114.46” and a URL “bigarmy.net” of an external device“74.208.60.31.” The Anomaly Details 1100 additionally includes a“Actions” 1108 control. This control allows the UI user to edit theanomaly by selecting “Change Score,” delete the anomaly by selecting“Delete,” or view similar anomalies by selecting “View SimilarAnomalies.”

FIG. 12 is an illustrative view of a “Threats Table” screen 1200according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. FIG. 12provides an example view that the UI generates when a UI user selectsthe Threats Review 1222 in FIG. 12. The Threats Table 1200 provides aThreats Trend timeline 1202 and a Threats listing 1204. The ThreatsTrend 1202 illustrates the number of threats over a period of time. Insome embodiments, this can be provided as a line chart that includes thesame information re-formatted as a column chart (not shown), or abreakdown column chart (not shown).

While viewing the Threats Trend 1202, the UI user can use the cursor tohover over displayed data to receive more specific information. Forexample, hovering over the data on the line at 1206 can cause a textbubble to appear (not shown), indicating a specific date (or time) andthe number of threats at that point.

The Threats listing 1204 lists all active threats. The Threats listingprovides, for each entry, the “Threat Type” 1208, “Threat Categories”1210, “Participants” 1212, “Start Date” 1214, “Last Update” 1216, and“Score” 1218. A summary section 1220 identifies the number of threats ofeach type and provides an option to just display the threats of acertain specified type.

To receive specific information about a threat in the subset of threats,the UI user can click on a link in the Threats listing 1204. The UI thennavigates to the Threat Details page 900 as shown in FIG. 9. This pageprovides the same information (including the same charts, graphs, etc.)provided via the Threats Review 900 view.

While viewing the Threats Table 1200, the UI user can navigate to theAnomaly Details 1100 in FIG. 11. For example, from within the Threatslisting 1204 in FIG. 12, a UI user can click on the link for any threatcategory to receive additional details (not shown). In some embodiments,the “Threats Table” 1200 includes a selector that, upon selection,generates the display of a geographical representation of the identifiedthreats (not shown).

4.1. User Interface for Custom Threat Rules

FIG. 13 is an illustrative view of a “Custom Threats ” home screen. TheCustom Threats home screen 1300 includes a “Threat Rules” list 1302 ofcustom threat rules. Each entry of the Threat Rules list 1302 includes a“Name” 1304, “Threat Type” 1306, “Threats” 1308, “Added By” 1310, “DateAdded” 1312, “Enabled” 1314, and shortcut icons 1316 to modify thecustom threat rule. Lastly, the Custom Threats home screen 1300 includesa “New Threat Rule” control 1318 that, upon its selection, opens one ofa series of screens to guide the UI user through a process to create anew custom threat rule as described below.

For example, for the first threat rule entry, the Name 1304 is“Potential Flight Risk Exfiltration.” Below the name is a description ofthe threat rule: “Looks for Flight Risk users who may be exfiltratingsensitive data.” The Threat Type 1306 is “Exfiltration.” The number ofThreats 1308 is 0, which reflects that no such threats have beenidentified. The Added By 1310 indicates that the “admin” user added thethreat rule, and the Date Added 1312 indicates that the threat rule wasadded on Mar. 4, 2017. The Enabled control 1314 is a control that allowsthe UI user to enable or disable the threat rule by toggling thecontrol. In this example, each and every custom threat rule is enabled.However, the UI user can move each Enable 1314 individually to disable arespective custom threat rule.

Lastly, the shortcut icons 1316 can be selected by the UI user to modifythe custom threat rule in one of three ways. Selecting the graphic iconthat resembles a pencil allows the UI user to edit the custom threatrule. Selecting the overlapping graphic icons allows the UI user to editor add comments for the threat rule. Lastly, selecting the graphic-xshortcut removes the custom threat rule from the custom Threat Ruleslist 1302.

4.1.1. User Interface for Creating Custom Threat Rules

The ability to customize threat rules is enabled by the underlying logicof the security platform as described above. For example, the underlyinglogic includes processes that facilitate creating new custom threatrules or editing existing custom threat rules. The processes reduce thecustomization of complex threat rules into a series of defined steps andsub-steps that guide a user to create custom threat rules.

To further reduce the cognitive burden on users to customize threatrules, the disclosed embodiments include a series of screens of a UIpresented in an easy-to-use format. FIGS. 14 through 20 illustrate anexample of a series of screens for creating new custom threat rules. Inparticular, these figures illustrate screens enabled by the underlyinglogic described with respect to FIG. 6.

In the illustrated embodiment, the underlying logic can include asix-step process to create new custom threat rules. Each step has acorresponding one of a series of six display screens illustrated inFIGS. 14 through 20, respectively. A custom threat rule is created inaccordance with the series of predefined steps and sub-steps that arepresented on respective UI screens of FIGS. 14 through 20. Each screenhas controls or fields for the UI user to input attributes defining thecustom threat rule. After inputting a minimal amount of necessaryattributes, a custom threat rule can be stored in a data store. Hence,the UI facilitates the input of attributes to reduce the complex processof customizing threat rules into easy-to-use interactive screens.

Although the illustrated embodiment includes six display screens, thisdisclosure is not so limited. Rather, some embodiments may include fewersteps, more steps, a different order or combination of steps, couldallow the UI user to skip steps, and/or could automatically populatecertain steps with data. As such, the disclosed embodiments include anynumber of steps and corresponding screens that are necessary andsufficient to define custom threat rules.

Creating a custom threat rule begins by selecting an entity subject tothe new custom threat rule. Examples of entities include a user, device,or session. FIG. 14 is an illustrative view of a first screen 1400 for aUI user to select an entity for a new custom threat rule. The firstscreen 1400 can be displayed in response to selection of the New ThreatRule control 1318 of the Custom Threats home screen 1300. In someembodiments, the first screen 1400, along with any subsequent screensfor creating custom threat rules, are presented as windows, boxes,prompts, or the like, which may overlay other displayed content such asthe Custom Threats home screen 1300.

The first screen 1400 includes three alternative controls for defining aparticipant entity: “User” 1402, “Device” 1404, and “Session” 1406. Thesubsequent display screens can vary depending on which entity the UIuser selects, and the criteria for each selected entity can be the same,similar, or completely for all the entities. In some embodiments, thecriteria for each entity type in the screen after this “SelectParticipant” screen are completely different. The criteria in the threatconditions screen are the same irrespective of the custom threat ruleentity type because they relate to anomaly selection criteria (e.g.,anomaly filter), not entity selection criteria.

As shown, the User 1402 control has been selected by the UI user. Thesubsequent screens for creating the new custom threat rule areassociated with the user entity. The user can select the “Cancel” link1408 at any time to cancel the current process. Once an entity isselected, the UI user can select the Next control to move to the secondscreen, to input additional criteria for the new custom threat rule.

FIG. 15 is an illustrative view of a second screen 1500 used by the UIuser to set filters for the new custom threat rule according to someembodiments of the present disclosure. The UI user can select one ormore filters and define one or more criteria for each selected filter.The second screen 1500 includes a list of “User Filters” includingAnomalies Count, City, Country, HR record, OU, Specific Users, State,Threat Counts, User Status, and User Watchlists. As shown, the UI userselected the Anomalies Count filter. The UI user can then set criteriafor the Anomalies Count, including selecting a threshold 1504 equal togreater, less, equal, or combinations thereof and inputting a value in avalue field 1506. For example, the UI user can input “>=” a threshold1504 and 25 in the value field 1506 to define the criteria for theAnomalies Count filter. The UI user can select Cancel 1508 to cancel thecurrent process, select Back 1510 to present the first screen 1400, orselect Next 1512 to present a third screen, to input additional criteriafor the new custom threat rule.

FIGS. 16A through 16C are illustrative views of a third screen 1600 fora UI user to define conditions for the new custom threat rule accordingto some embodiments of the present disclosure. In particular, FIG. 16Ais an illustrative view of a third screen to set conditions for the newcustom threat rule. The UI user can add conditions for anomalies of thecustom threat rule, and specify threat time intervals.

As shown, the third screen 1600 includes selectable Anomaly Types 1602,Count 1604 and Filters 1606 for a selected anomaly type. An anomaly typemay include, for example, any of those shown in the table of FIGS. 2Aand 2B. A user can add any number of conditions by clicking “AddCondition” 1608. Then the user can repeat these steps any number oftimes to define an anomaly pattern. Moreover, in some embodiments, theuser can configure the custom threat rule to preserve the order for theconditions. As such, the anomaly types are processed in order.

A user can optionally specify time related conditions for the anomalypatterns. Examples include an anomalies interval, and optional maximumthreat duration and threats gap attributes of the anomaly patterns asdescribed above. In particular, each filter of an anomaly pattern mayspecify multiple anomaly types. Each condition is a distinct anomalyfilter with any number of attributes. The anomaly type is one of theattributes that can be used in an anomaly filter. And multiple anomalytypes can be specified for the same filter.

As shown, the conditions can have time criteria including an “AnomaliesInterval” 1610, “Max Threat Duration” 1612, and “Threats Gap” 1614. Theanomalies interval condition sets the minimum anomalies of every set ofa pattern that have to occur at most within the anomalies interval. Ifthe anomalies are detected but the interval between the first and thelast is greater than the anomalies interval, then the pattern is notmatched. The new custom threat rule is executed on a daily basis and inevery execution it processes the anomalies generated between the time ofthe execution (t1) and t1−anomalies_interval. For example, if the periodt1−anomalies_interval is less than 24 hours, then the processed periodbecomes [t1, t1−24 hours].

If in yesterday's execution the custom threat rule's pattern wasdetected and threat T1 was raised, then if in today's execution maybethe same pattern is detected, the custom threat rule can either raise anew threat T2 or merge the anomalies of new occurrence of the pattern tothreat T1. This decision is based on the Max Threat Duration 1612 andThreats Gap 1614 conditions.

In particular, for the maximum threat duration, if the new anomaliesfound today were added to T1 without violating the maximum threatduration constraint (i.e., without making T1 last longer that thisduration), then they will be added to T1 and T2 will not be generated.The duration of a threat can be defined as the time period between itsearliest and its latest anomalies. For the threats gap, if in today'srun more anomalies are found that that satisfy one of the pattern'sfilter, then the process keeps adding them to the last found threat T1as long as the chronological gap between every such anomaly and theprevious one is smaller than the threats gap.

The UI user can select Cancel 1616 to cancel the current process orselect Back 1618 to present the second screen 1500 or, once any numberof conditions have been set, select Next 1620 to present a fourthscreen, to input additional criteria for the new custom threat rule.

FIG. 16B is another illustrative view of the third screen 1600 for theUI user to set conditions for the new custom threat rule. The view ofthe third screen 1600 includes a dropdown list 1622 for the AnomalyTypes 1602 including a number of selectable options. The dropdown list1622 also includes a search field that allows the UI user to input ananomaly type included in a library of anomaly types that could beselected as a threat condition.

FIG. 16C is another illustrative view of the third screen 1600 for theUI user to set conditions for the new custom threat rule. The conditionsshown include a “Blacklisted Application” with a count of 2 for a firstcondition 1624, and a “Download From Internal Server” with a count of 1for a second condition 1626.

In some embodiments, a user could select two anomaly types in the samecondition and the count would apply to both. For example, this means “atleast x number of anomalies of the first OR the second anomaly type.” Insome embodiments, custom threat rules do not specify any anomaly type intheir conditions. Instead, they use other attributes of the anomaliessuch as the score, for example, select anomalies of any type with ascore greater than 8. Hence, the anomaly type can be nothing more thanone of the fields to use in the filter or condition.

A “Preserve Order” 1628 control is enabled because the custom threatrule includes multiple threat conditions. The Preserve Order 1628control can be toggled on to preserve the order for processing thethreat conditions, or toggled off to not preserve the order. As shown,the Preserve Order 1628 is toggled on. Further, the Anomalies Intervalis set to 1 minute. Also shown is a graphic-x control 1630 for eachcondition which, upon selection by the UI user, will delete thecondition. The UI user can select Next 1620 to present the fourthscreen.

As indicated above, the anomaly type 1602 can be associated with one ormore filters 1606, which are customizable by the UI user. For example,FIGS. 17A through 17C are illustrative views of an anomaly filter screen1700 to set the anomaly filters 1706 for the conditions according tosome embodiments of the present disclosure.

In particular, FIG. 17A is an illustrative view of the anomaly filtersscreen 1700 for the UI user to set anomaly filters for the new customthreat rule according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. Asshown, an anomaly filter 1702 may include an Anomaly Category, AnomalyWatchlist, Log Format, or Score. A filter by device may includeAnomalies Count, Device Resolutions, Device Scopes, Device Types, DeviceWatchlists, Specific Devices, and Threat Counts. A filter by application(e.g., “app”) may include Anomalies Count, App Watchlists, Specificapps, and Threat Counts.

As shown, the UI user selects an Anomaly Categories filter 1704. The UIuser can then select to include one or more categories 1706 includingAccount Takeover, Allowed, Beaconing, Blacklists, Blocked, Denial ofService, Exfiltration, External Alarms, External Attack, Incoming, andthe like. Also shown are a search field 1708 to facilitate searching foranomaly categories and optional constrains 1710 and 1712 to limit ortarget the search for an anomaly category input in the search field1708.

FIG. 17B is another illustrative view of the anomaly filters screen 1700for the UI user to set anomaly filters for the new custom threat rule.As shown, the UI user selected a Score filter 1714, the UI user is thenprompted with score controls 1716 to designate an anomaly score value orrange between 0 and 10, with 0 being the least anomalous and 10 beingthe most anomalous.

FIG. 17C is another illustrative view of the anomaly filters screen 1700to set anomaly filters for the new custom threat rule. Here, the UI userselected an apps filter, and was prompted to select from one or moreapplications 1718. Also shown is the search field 1708 to facilitatesearching for applications and optional constrains 1710 and 1712 tolimit or target the search for applications input in the search field1708. Once any number of anomaly filters have been set, the UI user canselect OK 1722 to present the fourth screen, or can select Cancel 1722at any time to cancel the current process.

FIG. 18A is an illustrative view of a fourth screen 1800 for the UI userto set anomaly processing for the new custom threat rule. The UI usercan select a scope of anomaly processing for the new custom threat ruleincluding “Process anomalies from this day forward” 1802 and/or “Processanomalies from the past 1804. As shown, the UI user has selected toProcess anomalies from this day forward 1802. The UI user can selectCancel 1806 to cancel the current process or select Back 1808 to presentthe third screen 1600 or, when an anomaly processing has been set,select Next 1810 to present a fifth screen, to input additionalattributes for the new custom threat rule.

FIG. 18B is another illustrative view of the fourth screen 1800 to setanomaly processing for a new custom threat rule according to someembodiments of the present disclosure. As shown, both the processinganomalies from the present day forward 1802 and processing anomaliesfrom the past 1804 have been selected. As a result of selectingprocessing at least some anomalies from the past 1804, controls areenabled for a “Past Duration” 1812 and a “Past Date Range” 1814. Asshown, the Past Duration 1812 has been selected and, in response, afield to input a value has been enabled as well as a field to input atime unit.

FIG. 18C is another illustrative view of the fourth screen 1800 for theUI user to set anomaly processing for the new custom threat rule. Asshown, both the processing anomalies from the present day forward 1802and processing anomalies from the past 1804 have been selected. Further,the Past Date Range 1814 has been selected and, as a result, a StartDate calendar control 1820 and an End Date calendar control 1822 areenabled. The UI user can set the start date by selecting from the StartDate calendar control 1820, and set an end date by selecting from theEnd Date calendar control 1822. The UI user can then select Next 1810 tomove to the fifth screen, to input additional criteria that defines thecustom threat rule.

FIGS. 19A through 19C are illustrative views of a fifth screen 1900 forthe UI user to set properties for generated threats based on the newcustom threat rule. In particular, FIG. 19A is an illustrative view ofthe fifth screen 1900 for the UI user to set generated threats for thenew custom threat rule.

The UI user can enter the properties of the threats generated by the newcustom threat rule. A “Threat Score” 1902 control includes a knob 1904that can slide between left and right of the Threat Score 1902 control.By moving the knob 1904 to the left, the custom threat rule is given alower score. By moving the knob 1904 to the right, the custom threatrule is given a higher score. The numerical value of the score ispresented on the knob 1904 to further help the UI user set the desiredthreat score. For example, the threats can be assigned a score rangingbetween 0 and 10, with 0 being the least threatening and 10 being themost threatening.

The fifth screen 1900 also includes two options for “Custom Threat Type”including “Use Existing Custom Threat Type” 1906 and “Create New CustomThreat Type” 1908. As shown, the Use Existing Custom Threat Type 1906 isselected and, as a result, a control for alternatively selectableoptions 1910 is enabled. The fifth screen 1900 also includes a “ThreatDescription” 1912 and corresponding text box 1914, which allows the UIuser to input a description of the threat. A “Threat Recommendation”1916 has a corresponding text box 1918, which allows the UI user toinput a recommendation for responding to the threat. The content inputby the UI user for the Threat Description 1912 and Threat Recommendation1916 can be presented to a UI user when threats are generated as a wayto explain what the threat is, and explain how one should respond to thethreat. The UI user can select Cancel 1920 to cancel the current processor select Back 1922 to present the fourth screen 1800 or, after thethreats criteria has been set, select Next 1924 to present a sixthscreen, to input additional criteria for the new custom threat rule.

FIG. 19B is another illustrative view of the fifth screen 1900 to setproperties for threats for the new custom threat rule. By selecting thealternatively selectable options 1910, a window 1926 is presented thatincludes the alternatively selectable options such as Malware,Compromised Account, User at High Risk, Data Exfiltration after AccountTakeover, Internal Server at High Risk, Compromised Web Server,Exfiltration, and Possible Phishing Attack.

FIG. 19C is another illustrative view of the fifth screen to setproperties for threats for the new custom threat rule. As shown, theCreate New Custom Threat Type 1908 has been selected. A correspondingtext box 1918 has been enabled to allow the UI user to create a customnew threat type that includes a custom description and can includethreat recommendations instructive of how to handle the threat.

FIG. 20 is an illustrative view of a sixth screen 2000 to set propertiesfor a new custom threat rule. The UI user can name the new custom threatrule, provide an optional description, and store the new custom threatrule in memory. As shown, the “Rule Name” 2002 has an associated textbox 2004 for the UI user to input the name of the new custom rule. The“Rule Description” 2006 has an associated text box 2008 for the UI userto input a description of the new custom threat rule.

The UI user can select Cancel 2010 to cancel the current process orselect Back 2012 to present the fifth screen 1900 or, once the rule namehas been set, select OK 2014 to present complete the process forcreating a new custom threat rule, which will subsequently be applied toevent data of the data processing system. The name and description canbe used later when identifying the threat rule for subsequent editing ordeletion.

4.1.2. User Interface for Editing Custom Threat Rules

The UI user can subsequently select the new custom threat rule from alibrary of existing rules and edit or delete the selected rule. Forexample, referring back to the Custom Threats screen 1300, a shortcuticon 1316 for editing the custom threat rule can be selected. The firstscreen 1400 is then presented to the UI user, who can navigate betweenthe various screens of FIGS. 14 through 20 by selecting Next or Backcontrols. Hence, the user can skip to any of the screens use to createthe custom threat rule, and edit the criteria that defines the customthreat rule. The edited custom threat rule is stored in memory.

For example, FIG. 21 is an illustrative view of the fourth screen 1800for the UI user to edit properties of a custom threat rule according tosome embodiments of the present disclosure. The properties havepreviously been input for each control. Thus, the UI user can change,add, or delete criteria to modify the custom threat rule. The UI usercan modify any of the criteria in the same manner described withreference to FIGS. 14 through 20.

4.2. User Interface for Anomaly Action Rules

FIG. 22 is an illustrative view of an “Anomaly Action Rules” home screen2200. The Anomaly Action Rules home screen 2200 is similar to the CustomThreats screen 1300 of FIG. 13. For example, the Anomaly Action Ruleshome screen 2200 includes an Anomaly Action Rules listing 2202 ofanomaly action rules. The Anomaly Action Rules home screen 2200 alsoincludes an “Anomaly Action Rule” control 2204 that, upon its selection,opens one of a series of screens to guide the UI user through a processto create a new anomaly action rule.

As shown, the Anomaly Action Rules list 2202 includes one anomaly actionrule. The entry for this the “Anomaly Action Rules” list 2202 includes a“Name” 2206, “Action” 2208, “Added By” 2208, “Date Added” 2208,“Enabled” 2214, and shortcut icons 2216 to modify the anomaly actionrule.

For example, for the first anomaly action rule entry, the Name 2206 is“London Rule.” The rule Action 2208 is watchlist. The Added By 2210indicates that the “admin” user added the custom threat rule, and theDate Added indicates that the anomaly action rule was added on Mar. 15,2017. The Enabled 2214 is a control that allows the UI user to enable ordisable the anomaly action rule by toggling the control. The UI user canmove each Enable control individually to disable a respective anomalyaction rule. Lastly, the shortcut icons 2216 can be selected by the UIuser to modify the anomaly action rule in one of three ways. Inparticular, selecting the graphic icon that resembles a pencil allowsthe UI user to edit the anomaly action rule. Selecting the overlappinggraphic icons allows the UI user to edit or add comments for the anomalyaction rule. Lastly, selecting the graphic-x shortcut removes theanomaly action rule from the Anomaly Action Rules list 2202.

FIG. 23 is an illustrative view of an “Anomalies Trash” screen 2300according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown, theAnomalies Trash screen 2300 includes a list of anomalies that have beendeleted from use. Since no anomalies have been deleted, the AnomaliesTrash list 2302 has no data (i.e., is empty). The Anomalies Trash screen2300 include filter options such as a score or range of score value2304, and a date or range of dates value 2306. The Anomalies Trashscreen 2300 also includes an “Add Filter” 2308 control, which allows theUI user to add more filters from a library of filters. The filters canbe used to filter the anomalies in the trash. For example, the UI usercan filter the discarded anomalies by a score or range of scores inputinto the score control 2304.

4.2.1. User Interface for Creating Anomaly Action Rules

The ability to customize anomaly action rules is enabled by theunderlying logic of the network security platform as described above.For example, the underlying logic includes processes that facilitatecreating new anomaly action rules or editing existing anomaly actionrules. The processes reduce the customization of complex anomaly actionrules into a series of defined steps and sub-steps that guide a user tocreate anomaly action rules.

To further reduce the cognitive burden on users to customize anomalyaction rules, the disclosed embodiments include a series of screens of aGUI presented in an easy-to-use format. FIGS. 24A through 26 illustratean example of a series of screens for creating new anomaly action rules.In particular, these figures illustrate screens enabled by theunderlying logic described with respect to FIG. 5.

The example underlying logic includes a three-step process to create newanomaly action rules. Each step has a corresponding one of a series ofthree screens illustrated in FIGS. 24A through 26, respectively. Ananomaly action rule is created in accordance with the series ofpredefined steps and sub-steps that are presented on the series of UIscreens of FIGS. 24A through 26. Each screen has controls or fields forthe UI user to input criteria defining the anomaly action rule. Afterinputting a minimal amount of necessary criteria, an anomaly action rulecan be stored in a data store. Hence, the UI facilitates the input ofcriteria to reduce the complex process of customizing anomaly actionrules into easy-to-use interactive screens.

Although the illustrated embodiment includes at least three screens andsupporting underlying logic, this disclosure is not so limited. Rather,some embodiments may include fewer steps, more steps, a different orderor combination of steps, could allow the UI user to skip steps, and/orcould automatically populate certain steps with data. As such, thedisclosed embodiments include any number of steps and correspondingscreens that are necessary and sufficient to define anomaly actionrules.

FIG. 24A is an illustrative view of a first screen 2400 for creating ananomaly action rule. The first screen 2400 can be displayed in responseto selection of the Anomaly Action Rule 2204 control of the AnomalyAction Rules home screen 2200. In some embodiments, the first screen2400, along with any subsequent screens for creating anomaly actionrules, are presented as windows, boxes, prompts, or the like, which mayoverlay other displayed content such as the Anomaly Action Rules homescreen 2400.

The first screen 2400 includes three alternative controls for setting a“Rule Action” 2402: “Add Anomalies to Watchlist” 2404, “Change AnomaliesScore” 2406, and “Delete Anomalies” 2408. Selecting a Rule Action 2402can enable other controls or fields for input by the UI user to addcriteria to the selected rule action. As shown, Change Anomalies Score2406 has been selected by the UI user. The selection of this actionrule, causes the first screen 2400 to display options for setting thescore: Absolute Score 2410 and Relative Score 2412. As shown, AbsoluteScore 2410 has been selected by the UI user. The selection of this scoreoption, causes the first screen 2400 to display a score controlincluding a slider 2414 knob 2414 that can slide left or right. Bymoving the knob 2414 to the left, the anomaly action rule is given alower score. By moving the knob 2414 to the right, the anomaly actionrule is given a higher score. Further, the numerical value of the scoreis presented on the knob 2414 to further help the UI user set thedesired anomaly action score. For example, the anomaly actions can beassigned a score ranging between 0 and 10, with 0 being the lowest valueand 10 being the highest value.

The first screen 2400 includes a “Rules Scope” 2416 for the UI user toset the application of the anomaly action rule to “Apply to FutureAnomalies” 2418 or to “Apply to Future and Existing Anomalies” 2420. Ifthe user selects to apply the anomaly action rule to future anomalies,then the anomaly action rule will be applied to all anomalies from thecurrent date. If the user selects to apply the anomaly action rule tofuture and existing anomalies, then the anomaly action rule will beapplied to those anomalies already detected in addition to any futureanomalies. The UI user can select 2422 to cancel the current process or,upon entering a Rule Action 2402, select Next 2424 to present a secondscreen, to input additional criteria for the anomaly action rule.

FIG. 24B is another illustrative view of the first screen 2400 forcreating the new anomaly action according to some embodiments of thepresent disclosure. As shown, selection of the “Add Anomalies to awatchlist” 2404 has been selected. The UI user can select from one ormore available watchlists 2405 including Anomaly Watchlist, FalsePositive, Important, Reviewed.

FIG. 24C is another illustrative view of the first screen 2400 forcreating the new anomaly action according to some embodiments of thepresent disclosure. In contrast to FIG. 24A, this view has RelativeScore 2412 selected rather than the Absolute Score 2410 selected. Inresponse, the first screen 2400 presents a control for selecting anoperation 2426 with alternative values of “add” or “subtract,” and anumerical value control 2428 for the selected operation 2426. As shown,the numerical value control 2428 has been selected such that a dropdownlist 2430 including selectable numerical values is presented to the UIuser.

FIG. 24D is another illustrative view of the first screen 2400 forcreating the new anomaly action according to some embodiments of thepresent disclosure. In contrast to FIG. 24A, this view has the DeleteAnomalies 2408 selected rather than the Change Anomalies Score 2406selected. In response, the first screen 2400 presents a delete control2432 including options to Move to Trash or Delete Permanently presentedin a dropdown list 2434. If the UI user selects Move to Trash as theRule Action 2402, then the security platform will discard a matchinganomaly to a trash memory, which can be retrieved later and is notpermanently deleted from memory. If the UI user selects DeletePermanently as the Rule Action 2402, then the security platform discardsa matching anomaly permanently, which cannot be retrieved later becauseit is not stored in memory. After selecting Next 2424, the second screenis presented to the UI user for input of additional criteria for the newanomaly action rule.

FIG. 25A is an illustrative view of a second screen 2500 for the UI userto set filters for the new anomaly action rule. As shown, an anomalyfilter 2502 includes an Anomaly Category, Anomaly Type, AnomalyWatchlists, Log Format, and Score. FIG. 25B is another illustrative viewof the second screen 2500 for the UI user to set filters for the newanomaly action according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.FIG. 25B shows the list of Anomalies 2506 scrolled to include additionalAnomalies 2502. FIG. 25C is another illustrative view of the secondscreen 2500 for a UI to set filters for the new anomaly action. Comparedto FIG. 25A, FIG. 25C shows the list of Anomalies 2506 scrolled down toinclude Apps and Domains.

Collectively, FIGS. 25A through 25C show an Anomalies 2502 filter forUser anomalies including Anomalies Count, Cities, Countries, HR Record,OUs, Specific User, States, Threats Count, and User Status, and ThreatsCount. An Anomalies 2502 filter for Apps anomalies includes AnomaliesCount, App Watchlists, Specific Apps, and Threats Count. Lastly, anAnomalies 2502 filter for Domains anomalies including Anomalies Count,Domain Watchlists, Specific Domains, and Threat Counts.

Referring back to FIG. 25A, the UI user selected the Anomaly Categoriesfilter 2504. The UI user can then select to include one or morecategories 2506 including Account Takeover, Allowed, Beaconing,Blacklists, Blocked, Denial of Service, Exfiltration, External Alarms,and External Attack. A search field 2508 accepts keywords to search foranomaly categories. The keywords can be filtered with selectable options2510 and 2512 to search for anomaly categories as defined based on acombination of the keywords input in the search field 2526 filtered byoptions 2510 and 2512. The U I user can select Cancel 2514 to cancel thecurrent process, select Back 25156 to present the first screen 2400, orselect Next 2518 to present a third screen, to input additional criteriafor the anomaly action rule. In some embodiments, an anomaly type isselected. In response to the selection, the user can then click on afunnel graphic that will appear next to the name of the type (notshown). The window that appears contains attributes that apply only tothe selected anomaly type.

In contrast to FIG. 25A, the UI user selected a “Specific Users” 2520 inFIG. 25B for the anomalies 2502. In response, the second screen 2500displays a list 2522 of selectable Specific Users. The search field 2508accepts keywords to search for Specific Users. The keywords can befiltered with selectable options 2510 and 2512 to search for SpecificUsers as defined based on a combination of the keywords input in thesearch field 2526 filtered by options 2510 and 2512.

FIG. 26 is an illustrative view of a third screen 2600 to set propertiesfor the new anomaly action rule. The UI user can name the new anomalyaction rule, provide an optional description, and store it in memorysuch as a database. As shown, the “Rule Name” 2602 has an associatedtext box 2604 for the UI user to input the name of the new custom rule.The “Rule Description” 2604 has an associated text box 2606 for the UIuser to input a description of the new anomaly action rule.

The UI user can select Cancel 2608 to cancel the current process orselect Back 2610 to present the second screen 2500 or, once the rulename has been set, selecting OK 2612 to complete the process forcreating a new anomaly action rule, which will subsequently be appliedto event data by the data processing system. The name and optionaldescription can be used later when identifying the anomaly action rulefor subsequent editing or deletion, as described next.

4.2.2. User Interface for Editing Anomaly Action Rules

The UI user can subsequently select an anomaly action rule from alibrary of existing anomaly action rules, and edit or delete theselected anomaly action rule. For example, referring back to the AnomalyAction Rules home screen 2200, a shortcut icon 2216 for editing thecustom rule can be selected by the UI user. The first screen 2400 isthen presented to the UI user, who can navigate to the second screen 25and third screen 26 by selecting Next controls. Hence, the user can skipto a screen used to create the anomaly action rule, and edit thecriteria that defines the anomaly action rule. The edited anomaly actionrule is stored in a data store.

For example, the criteria of any of the first screen 2400, second screen2500, or third screen 2600 can be edited by the UI user. Thus, the UIuser can change, add, or delete criteria to modify the anomaly actionrule. That is, the UI user can modify any of the criteria in the samemanner described with reference to FIGS. 24A through 26.

5.0. Computing System Architecture

FIG. 27 is a block diagram illustrating a high-level example of ahardware architecture of a computing system in which an embodiment maybe implemented. For example, the hardware architecture of a computingsystem 2700 can be used to implement any one or more of the functionalcomponents described herein including a forwarder, indexer, search head,data store, or any computing resource. In some embodiments, one ormultiple instances of the computing system 2700 can be used to implementthe technologies described herein, where multiple such instances can becoupled to each other via one or more networks.

The processes and logic flows described in this specification can beperformed by one or more programmable processors executing one or morecomputer programs to perform functions by operating on input data andgenerating output. For example, the computing system 2700 includes oneor more processing devices 2702, one or more memory devices 2704, one ormore communication devices 2706, one or more input/output (I/O) devices2708, and one or more mass storage devices 2710, all coupled to eachother through an interconnect 2712.

The interconnect 2712 may be or include one or more conductive traces,buses, point-to-point connections, controllers, adapters, and/or otherconventional connection devices. Each of the processing devices 2702controls, at least in part, the overall operation of the processing ofthe computing system 2700 and can be or include, for example, one ormore general-purpose programmable microprocessors, digital signalprocessors (DSPs), mobile application processors, microcontrollers,special purpose logic circuitry, e.g., a field programmable gate array(FPGA) or an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC),or the like,or a combination of such devices.

Each of the memory devices 2704 can be or include one or more physicalstorage devices, which may be in the form of random access memory (RAM),read-only memory (ROM) (which may be erasable and programmable), flashmemory, miniature hard disk drive, or other suitable type of storagedevice, or a combination of such devices. Each mass storage device 2710can be or include one or more hard drives, digital versatile disks(DVDs), flash memories, or the like. Each memory device 2704 and/or massstorage device 2710 can store (individually or collectively) data andinstructions that configure the processing device(s) 2702 to executeoperations to implement the techniques described above.

Processors suitable for the execution of a computer program include, byway of example, both general and special purpose microprocessors, andany one or more processors of any kind of digital computer (e.g.,processing devices 2702). Generally, a processor will receiveinstructions and data from a read-only memory or a random access memoryor both. The essential elements of a computer are a processor forperforming instructions and one or more memory devices for storinginstructions and data. Generally, the computer system 2700 will alsoinclude, or be operatively coupled to receive data from or transfer datato, or both, one or more mass storage devices for storing data, e.g.,magnetic, magneto optical disks, or optical disks. However, a computerneed not have such devices.

Each communication device 2706 may be or include, for example, anEthernet adapter, cable modem, Wi-Fi adapter, cellular transceiver,baseband processor, Bluetooth or Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) transceiver,or the like, or a combination thereof. Depending on the specific natureand purpose of the processing devices 2702, each I/O device 2706 can beor include a device such as a display (which may be a touch screendisplay), audio speaker, keyboard, mouse or other pointing device,microphone, camera, etc. Note, however, that such I/O devices 2706 maybe unnecessary if the processing device 2702 is embodied solely as aserver computer.

The computing system 2700 can include a client or server. A client andserver are generally remote from each other and typically interactthrough a communication network. The relationship of client and serverarises by virtue of computer programs running on the respectivecomputers and having a client-server relationship to each other. In thecase of a client device, the communication devices(s) 2706 can be orinclude, for example, a cellular telecommunications transceiver (e.g.,3G, LTE/4G, 5G), Wi-Fi transceiver, baseband processor, Bluetooth or BLEtransceiver, or the like, or a combination thereof. In the case of aserver, the communication device(s) 2706 can be or include, for example,any of the aforementioned types of communication devices, a wiredEthernet adapter, cable modem, DSL modem, or the like, or a combinationof such devices.

Embodiments of the subject matter and the functional operationsdescribed in this specification can be implemented in digital electroniccircuitry, or in computer software, firmware, or hardware, including thestructures disclosed in this specification and their structuralequivalents, or in combinations of one or more of them. Embodiments ofthe subject matter described in this specification can be implemented asone or more computer program products, i.e., one or more modules ofcomputer program instructions encoded on a computer readable medium forexecution by, or to control the operation of, data processing apparatus.

A software program or algorithm, when referred to as “implemented in acomputer-readable storage medium,” includes computer-readableinstructions stored in a memory device (e.g., memory device(s) 2704). Aprocessor (e.g., processing device(s) 2702) is “configured to execute asoftware program” when at least one value associated with the softwareprogram is stored in a register that is readable by the processor. Insome embodiments, routines executed to implement the disclosedtechniques may be implemented as part of OS software (e.g., MICROSOFTWINDOWS® or LINUX®) or a specific software application, algorithmcomponent, program, object, module, or sequence of instructions referredto as “computer programs.”

The computer readable medium can be a machine readable storage device, amachine readable storage substrate, a memory device, a composition ofmatter effecting a machine readable propagated signal, or a combinationof one or more of them. The term “data processing apparatus” encompassesall apparatus, devices, and machines for processing data, including byway of example a programmable processor, a computer, or multipleprocessors or computers. The apparatus can include, in addition tohardware, code that creates an execution environment for the computerprogram in question, e.g., code that constitutes processor firmware, aprotocol stack, a data store management system, an operating system, ora combination of one or more of them, a propagated signal is anartificially generated signal, e.g., a machine generated electrical,optical, or electromagnetic signal, that is generated to encodeinformation for transmission to suitable receiver apparatus.

A computer program (also known as a program, software, softwareapplication, script, or code) typically includes one or moreinstructions set at various times in various memory devices of acomputing device, which, when read and executed by at least oneprocessor (e.g., processing device(s) 2702), will cause a computingdevice to execute functions involving the disclosed techniques. In someembodiments, a carrier containing the aforementioned computer programproduct is provided. The carrier is one of an electronic signal, anoptical signal, a radio signal, or a non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium (e.g., the memory device(s) 2704).

A computer program can be written in any form of programming language,including compiled or interpreted languages, and it can be deployed inany form, including as a standalone program or as a module, component,subroutine, or other unit suitable for use in a computing environment. Acomputer program does not necessarily correspond to a file in a filesystem. A program can be stored in a portion of a file that holds otherprograms or data (e.g., on or more scripts stored in a markup languagedocument), in a single file dedicated to the program in question, or inmultiple coordinated files (e.g., files that store one or more modules,sub-programs, or portions of code). A computer program can be deployedto be executed on one computer or on multiple computers that are locatedat one site or distributed across multiple sites and interconnected by acommunication network.

The computer system 2700 can be embedded in another device, e.g., amobile telephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile audioplayer, a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, to name just a few.Computer readable media suitable for storing computer programinstructions and data include all forms of nonvolatile memory, media,and memory devices, including by way of example semiconductor memorydevices, e.g., EPROM, EEPROM, and flash memory devices; magnetic disks,e.g., internal hard disks or removable disks; magneto optical disks; andCD ROM and DVD ROM disks. The processor (e.g., processing devices 2702)and the memory (e.g., memory device 2704) can be supplemented by, orincorporated in, special purpose logic circuitry.

To provide for interaction with a user, architecture provider orreviewer, embodiments of the subject matter described in thisspecification can be implemented with a display device of the I/Odevices 2708, e.g., a CRT (cathode ray tube) to LCD (liquid crystaldisplay) monitor, for displaying information to the user and a keyboardand a pointing device, e.g., a mouse or a trackball, by which the usercan provide input to the computer. Other kinds of I/O devices 2708 canbe used to provide for interaction with a user, architecture provider orreviewer as well; for example, feedback provided to the user can be anyform of sensory feedback, e.g., visual feedback, auditory feedback, ortactile feedback; and input from the user, architecture provider orreviewer can be received in any from, including acoustic, speech, ortactile input.

In some embodiments, the computing system 180 can include a back endcomponent (not shown), e.g., as a data server, or that includes amiddleware component, e.g., an application server, or that includes afront end component, e.g., a client computer having a graphical userinterface (e.g., metrics-aware UI) or a Web browser through which a usercan interact with an implementation of the subject matter described inthis specification, or any combination of one or more such back end,middleware, or front end components. The components of the system can beinterconnected by any form or medium of digital data communication,e.g., a communication network. Examples of communication networksinclude a local area network (“LAN”) and a wide area network (“WAN”),e.g., the Internet.

Any or all of the features and functions described above can be combinedwith each other, except to the extent it may be otherwise stated aboveor to the extent that any such embodiments may be incompatible by virtueof their function or structure, as will be apparent to persons ofordinary skill in the art. Unless contrary to physical possibility, itis envisioned that (i) the methods/steps described herein may beperformed in any sequence and/or in any combination, and (ii) thecomponents of respective embodiments may be combined in any manner.

Although the subject matter has been described in language specific tostructural features and/or acts, it is to be understood that the subjectmatter defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to thespecific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific featuresand acts described above are disclosed as examples of implementing theclaims, and other equivalent features and acts are intended to be withinthe scope of the claims.

While this specification contains many specifics, these should not beconstrued as limitations on the scope of the invention or of what may beclaimed, but rather as descriptions of features specific to particularembodiments of the invention. Certain features that are described inthis specification in the context or separate embodiments can also beimplemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, variousfeatures that are described in the context of a single embodiment canalso be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in anysuitable sub-combination. Moreover, although features may be describedabove as acting in certain combinations and even initially claimed assuch, one or more features from a claimed combination can in some casesbe excised from the combination, and the claimed combination may bedirected to a sub-combination or variation of a sub-combination.

Similarly, while operations are depicted in the drawings in a particularorder, this should not be understood as requiring that such operationsbe performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, orthat all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirableresults. In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processingmay be advantageous. Moreover, the separation of various systemcomponents in the embodiments described above should not be understoodas requiring such separation in all embodiments, and it should beunderstood that the described program components and systems cangenerally be integrated together in a single software product orpackaged into multiple software products.

Thus, particular embodiments of the invention have been described. Otherembodiments are within the scope of the following claims. For example,the actions recited in the claims can be performed in a different orderand still achieve desirable results.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: causing display of one ormore first graphical controls enabling a user to define a filter of ananomaly action rule, the filter defining at least one of an attribute ofan anomaly or an attribute of a computer network entity; causing displayof one or more second graphical controls enabling a user to define anaction to take with respect to the anomaly action rule; and generatingthe anomaly action rule based on interaction by a user with the one ormore first and second graphical controls, wherein the anomaly actionrule causes performance of the action upon detecting an anomaly thatsatisfies the anomaly action rule.
 2. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: executing the action upon detecting an anomaly on thecomputer network that satisfies the anomaly action rule.
 3. The methodof claim 1, wherein the one or more second graphical controls includesan alternatively selectable graphical control for each of adding ananomaly to a watchlist, changing an anomaly score, and deleting ananomaly.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more firstgraphical controls includes a selectable graphical control for each of aplurality of criteria of the filter.
 5. The method of claim 1, whereinthe one or more first graphical controls includes a plurality ofcommonly selectable graphical controls for a plurality of criteria ofthe filter.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the computer networkentity is a user, a device, or a session of the computer network.
 7. Themethod of claim 1, wherein any graphical controls for defining theaction of the anomaly action rule are displayed in a first graphicaldisplay and any graphical controls for defining the filter of theanomaly action rule are displayed in a second graphical displaydifferent from the first graphical display.
 8. The method of claim 1,further comprising: causing display of an entry for each of a pluralityof anomaly action rules including the anomaly action rule, each entryincluding an anomaly action rule name and at least one of an action, anidentifier of a user that created the anomaly action rule, and a pointin time at which the anomaly action rule was created.
 9. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: causing display of an entry for each of aplurality of anomaly action rules including the anomaly action rule,each entry including an anomaly action rule name and a graphical controlselectable by a user to enable or disable the anomaly action rule. 10.The method of claim 1, further comprising: causing display of an entryfor each of a plurality of anomaly action rules including the anomalyaction rule, each entry including an anomaly action rule name and agraphical control selectable to initiate a process by which a user canedit the anomaly action rule.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein theaction is adding or removing an anomaly to a watchlist such that anyanomaly satisfying the anomaly action rule is added to the watchlist orremoved from the watchlist, respectively.
 12. The method of claim 1,wherein the action is changing an anomaly score such that a score ofeach anomaly satisfying the anomaly action rule is changed.
 13. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the action is changing an anomaly score suchthat a score of each anomaly satisfying the anomaly action rule ischanged to a designated value.
 14. The method of claim 1, wherein theaction is changing an anomaly score such that a score of each anomalysatisfying the anomaly action rule is increased by a designated amount.15. The method of claim 1, wherein the action is changing an anomalyscore such that a score of each anomaly satisfying the anomaly actionrule is decreased by a designated amount.
 16. The method of claim 1,further comprising, prior to generating the anomaly action rule:defining a rule scope based on interaction by the user with a graphicalcontrol, the rule scope being one of: applying the anomaly action ruleonly to unregistered anomalies; or applying the anomaly action rule tounregistered and registered anomalies.
 17. The method of claim 1,wherein the anomaly action rule is applied only to unregisteredanomalies.
 18. The method of claim 1, wherein the anomaly action rule isapplied to unregistered anomalies and registered anomalies.
 19. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the action is deleting an anomaly such thatany anomaly satisfying the anomaly action rule is permanently deleted.20. The method of claim 1, wherein the action is deleting an anomalyselected by a user from one of: saving an anomaly to a trash data storesuch that any anomaly satisfying the anomaly action rule is saved to thetrash data store; and permanently deleting any anomaly such that anyanomaly satisfying the anomaly action rule is permanently deleted. 21.The method of claim 1, wherein the action is deleting an anomaly suchthat an anomaly satisfying the anomaly action rule is saved to a trashdata store, the method further comprising: receiving user inputincluding interaction with a graphical control restoring the anomalysaved to the trash data store as a basis for identifying a securitythreat to the computer network.
 22. The method of claim 1, wherein thefilter includes a criterion for the computer network entity.
 23. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the filter includes one of: an anomalycategory; an anomaly type; an anomaly watchlist; an anomaly log format;an anomaly associated with a user of the computer network; an anomalyassociated with a device of the computer network; an anomaly associatedwith an application of the computer network; or an anomaly associatedwith a domain of the computer network.
 24. The method of claim 1,further comprising, prior to generating the anomaly action rule:defining a property of the anomaly action rule based on interaction bythe user with a graphical control.
 25. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising, prior to generating the anomaly action rule: defining aplurality of properties of the anomaly action rule based on interactionby the user with one or more graphical controls, the plurality ofproperties including a rule name and a rule description.
 26. The methodof claim 1, further comprising: storing in a memory the anomaly actionrule, including information specifying the action and the filter;receiving third user input including selection of the anomaly actionrule to receive the anomaly action rule from the memory; changing theanomaly action rule based on interaction by the user with a graphicalcontrol; storing the changed anomaly action rule in the memory; andexecuting the changed anomaly action rule upon detecting an anomaly onthe computer network that satisfies the changed anomaly action rule. 27.The method of claim 1, further comprising, prior to generating theanomaly action rule: defining a rule scope based on interaction by theuser with a graphical control, the rule scope being one of: applying theanomaly action rule only to unregistered anomalies; or applying theanomaly action rule to unregistered and registered anomalies; anddefining a property of the anomaly action rule based on interaction bythe user with a graphical control.
 28. The method of claim 1, whereinexecuting the action comprises executing the action in real-time upondetecting an anomaly on the computer network that satisfies the anomalyaction rule.
 29. A computer system, comprising: a processor; and memorycontaining instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause thecomputer system to: cause display of one or more first graphicalcontrols enabling a user to define a filter of an anomaly action rule,the filter defining at least one of an attribute of an anomaly or anattribute of a computer network entity; cause display of one or moresecond graphical controls enabling a user to define an action to takewith respect to the anomaly action rule; and generate the anomaly actionrule based on interaction by a user with the one or more first andsecond graphical controls, wherein the anomaly action rule causesperformance of the action upon detecting an anomaly that satisfies theanomaly action rule.
 30. A non-transitory machine-readable storagemedium storing instructions, an execution of which in a processingsystem causes the processing system to perform operations, comprising:causing display of one or more first graphical controls enabling a userto define a filter of an anomaly action rule, the filter defining atleast one of an attribute of an anomaly or an attribute of a computernetwork entity; causing display of one or more second graphical controlsenabling a user to define an action to take with respect to the anomalyaction rule; and generating the anomaly action rule based on interactionby a user with the one or more first and second graphical controls,wherein the anomaly action rule causes performance of the action upondetecting an anomaly that satisfies the anomaly action rule.